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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of No Cross, No Crown, by William Penn
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-Title: No Cross, No Crown
-       a discourse, shewing the nature and discipline of the Holy
-       Cross of Christ
-
-Author: William Penn
-
-Release Date: February 13, 2014 [EBook #44895]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NO CROSS, NO CROWN ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Charlene Taylor, Bryan Ness, Julia Neufeld and
-the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
-http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
-generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian
-Libraries)
-
-
-
-
-
-Transcriber's note:
-
-Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
-
-Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration: title page]
-
-
-
-
-  NO CROSS, NO CROWN:
-
-  A DISCOURSE,
-
-  SHEWING THE NATURE AND DISCIPLINE
-
-  OF THE
-
-  HOLY CROSS OF CHRIST.
-
-  TO WHICH ARE ADDED,
-
-  The Living and Dying Testimonies
-
-  OF
-
-  MANY PERSONS OF FAME AND LEARNING,
-
-  BOTH
-
-  OF ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES, IN FAVOUR OF
-
-  THIS TREATISE.
-
-  "And Jesus said unto them all; If any man will come after me,
-  let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow
-  me."-- LUKE, ix. 23.
-
-  "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
-  faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness," &c.--2
-  TIM. iv. 7, 8.
-
-  IN TWO PARTS.
-
-  BY WILLIAM PENN.
-
-  A NEW EDITION, REVISED.
-
-  LONDON:
-  HARVEY & DARTON, GRACECHURCH STREET.
-
-  1842.
-
-
-
-
-  LONDON:
-
-  JOSEPH RICKERBY, PRINTER,
-  SHERBOURN LANE.
-
-
-
-
-PREFACE.
-
-
-  READER,
-
-The great business of man's life, is to answer the end for which
-he lives; and that is to glorify God and save his own soul: this
-is the decree of Heaven, as old as the world. But so it is, that
-man mindeth nothing less than what he should most mind; and
-despiseth to inquire into his own being, its original duty and end;
-choosing rather to dedicate his days (the steps he should make to
-blessedness) to gratify the pride, avarice, and luxury of his heart:
-as if he had been born for himself, or rather given himself being,
-and so not subject to the reckoning and judgment of a superior
-power. To this wild and lamentable pass hath poor man brought
-himself by his disobedience to the law of God in his heart, by doing
-that which he knows he should not do, and leaving undone what he
-knows he should do. And as long as this disease continueth upon man
-he will make his God his enemy, and himself incapable of the love
-and salvation that He hath manifested, by his Son Jesus Christ, to
-the world.
-
-If, Reader, thou art such an one, my counsel to thee is, to retire
-into thyself, and take a view of the condition of thy soul; for
-Christ hath given thee light with which to do it; search carefully
-and thoroughly; thy life is in it; thy soul is at stake. It is
-but once to be done; if thou abuse thyself in it, the loss is
-irreparable; the world is not price enough to ransom thee: wilt thou
-then, for such a world, belate thyself, overstay the time of thy
-salvation, and lose thy soul? Thou hast to do, I grant thee, with
-great patience; but that also must have an end: therefore provoke
-not that God that made thee, to reject thee. Dost thou know what
-it is? It is Tophet; it is hell, the eternal anguish of the damned.
-Oh! Reader, as one knowing the terrors of the Lord, I persuade thee
-to be serious, diligent, and fervent about thy own salvation. Aye,
-and as one knowing the comfort, peace, joy, and pleasure of the
-ways of righteousness too, I exhort and invite thee to embrace the
-reproofs and convictions of Christ's light and spirit in thine own
-conscience, and bear the judgment, who hast wrought the sin. The
-fire burns but the stubble: the wind blows but the chaff: yield up
-the body, soul, and spirit to Him that maketh all things new: new
-heavens, and new earth, new love, new joy, new peace, new works,
-a new life and conversation. Men are grown corrupt and drossy by
-sin, and they must be saved through fire, which purgeth it away:
-therefore the word of God is compared to a fire, and the day of
-salvation to an oven; and Christ himself to a refiner and purifier
-of silver.
-
-Come, Reader, hearken to me awhile; I seek thy salvation; that is
-my plot; thou wilt forgive me. A refiner is come near thee, his
-grace hath appeared unto thee: it shows thee the world's lusts, and
-teaches thee to deny them. Receive his leaven, and it will change
-thee: his medicine, and it will cure thee: he is as infallible as
-free; without money, and with certainty. A touch of his garment did
-it of old: it will do it still: his virtue is the same, it cannot
-be exhausted: for in him the fulness dwells; blessed be God for
-his sufficiency. He laid help upon him, that he might be mighty
-to save all that come to God through him: do thou so, and he will
-change thee: aye, thy vile body like unto his glorious body. He is
-the great philosopher indeed; the wisdom of God, that turns lead
-into gold, vile things into things precious: for he maketh saints
-out of sinners, and almost gods of men. What rests to us, then,
-that we must do, to be thus witnesses of his power and love? This
-is the Crown: but where is the Cross? Where is the bitter cup and
-bloody baptism? Come, Reader, be like him; for this transcendant joy
-lift up thy head above the world; then thy salvation will draw nigh
-indeed.
-
-Christ's Cross is Christ's way to Christ's Crown. This is the
-subject of the following Discourse; first written during my
-confinement in the Tower of London, in the year 1668, now reprinted
-with great enlargements of matter and testimonies, that thou,
-Reader, mayest be won to Christ; and if won already, brought nearer
-to Him. It is a path, God, in his everlasting kindness, guided my
-feet into, in the flower of my youth, when about twenty-two years of
-age: then He took me by the hand, and led me out of the pleasures,
-vanities, and hopes of the world. I have tasted of Christ's
-judgments and mercies, and of the world's frowns and reproaches: I
-rejoice in my experience, and dedicate it to thy service in Christ.
-It is a debt I have long owed, and has been long expected: I have
-now paid it, and delivered my soul. To my country, and to the world
-of Christians, I leave it: my God, if He please, make it effectual
-to them all, and turn their hearts from that envy, hatred, and
-bitterness, they have one against another, about worldly things;
-sacrificing humanity and charity to ambition and covetousness,
-for which they fill the earth with trouble and oppression; that
-receiving the Spirit of Christ into their hearts, the fruits of
-which are love, peace, joy, temperance, and patience, brotherly
-kindness and charity, they may in body, soul, and spirit, make a
-triple league against the world, the flesh, and the devil, the
-common enemies of mankind; and having conquered them through a life
-of self-denial, by the power of the Cross of Jesus, they may at last
-attain to the eternal rest and kingdom of God.
-
-    So desireth, so prayeth,
-    Friendly Reader,
-    Thy fervent Christian Friend,
-
-    WILLIAM PENN.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-
-  CHAPTERS I. AND II.--Page 1-23.
-
-  Of the Necessity of the daily bearing of the Cross of Christ.
-
-
-  CHAPTER III.--Page 24-28.
-
-  What the Cross of Christ is.
-
-
-  CHAPTER IV.--Page 29-42.
-
-  What the great Work of the Cross is.
-
-
-  CHAPTERS V. AND VI.--Page 43-74.
-
-  Of unlawful Self in Religion and Morality.
-
-
-  CHAPTERS VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. AND XII.--Page 75-149.
-
-  Of Pride, the first capital Lust, its Rise, Definition, and
-  Distinction.
-
-
-  CHAPTER XIII.--Page 150-167.
-
-  Of Avarice, the second capital Lust, its Definition and Distinction.
-
-
-  CHAPTERS XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. AND XVIII.--Page 168-229.
-
-  Of Luxury, what it is, and the Mischief of it to Mankind.
-
-
-  CHAPTER XIX.--Page 233-294.
-
-  The Testimonies of several great, learned, and virtuous Personages
-  among the Gentiles, urged against the excesses of the Age.
-
-
-  CHAPTER XX.--Page 295-324.
-
-  The Doctrine and Practice of the blessed Lord Jesus and his Apostles,
-  the primitive Christians, and those of more modern Times in
-  favour of the Discourse.
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXI.--Page 325-355.
-
-  The serious Apprehensions and Expressions of several aged and
-  dying Men of Fame and Learning.
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXII.--Page 356-365.
-
-  An Exhortation to all professing Christianity, to embrace the
-  foregoing Reasons and Examples.
-
-
-
-
-NO CROSS, NO CROWN.
-
-
-
-
-PART I.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-     I. Of the necessity of the Cross of Christ in general; yet the
-     little regard Christians have to it.--2. The degeneracy of
-     Christendom from purity to lust, and moderation to excess.--3.
-     That worldly lusts and pleasures are become the care and study
-     of Christians, so that they have advanced upon the impiety
-     of infidels.--4. This defection a second part to the Jewish
-     tragedy, and worse than the first: the scorn Christians have
-     cast on their Saviour.--5. Sin is of one nature all the world
-     over; sinners are of the same church, the devil's children:
-     profession of religion in wicked men makes them but the
-     worse.--6. A wolf is not a lamb; a sinner cannot be, whilst
-     such, a saint.--7. The wicked will persecute the good; this,
-     false Christians have done to the true, for non-compliance
-     with their superstitions; the strange carnal measures false
-     Christians have taken of Christianity; the danger of that
-     self-seduction.--8. The sense of that has obliged me to make
-     this discourse for a dissuasive against the world's lusts, and
-     an invitation to take up the daily cross of Christ as the way
-     left us by him to blessedness.--9. Of the self-condemnation of
-     the wicked; that religion and worship are comprised in doing the
-     will of God. The advantage good men have over bad men in the
-     last judgment.--10. A supplication for Christendom, that she
-     may not be rejected in that great assize of the world. She is
-     exhorted to consider what relation she bears to Christ; if her
-     Saviour, how saved, and from what: what her experience is of
-     that great work. That Christ came to save from sin and wrath by
-     consequence; not to save men in sin, but from it, and so from
-     the wages of it.
-
-
-I. Though the knowledge and obedience of the doctrine of the cross
-of Christ be of infinite moment to the souls of men, for that is
-the only door to true Christianity, and that path the ancients ever
-trod to blessedness; yet, with extreme affliction let me say, it
-is so little understood, so much neglected, and what is worse, so
-bitterly contradicted by the vanity, superstition, and intemperance
-of professed Christians, that we must either renounce to believe
-what the Lord Jesus hath told us, that whosoever doth not bear his
-cross, and come after him, cannot be his disciple; (Luke, xiv. 27;)
-or, admitting that for truth, conclude, that the generality of
-Christendom do miserably deceive and disappoint themselves in the
-great business of Christianity, and their own salvation.
-
-II. For, let us be never so tender and charitable in the survey
-of those nations that entitle themselves to any interest in the
-holy name of Christ, if we will but be just too, we must needs
-acknowledge, that after all the gracious advantages of light, and
-obligations to fidelity, which these latter ages of the world
-have received by the coming, life, doctrine, miracles, death,
-resurrection, and ascension of Christ, with the gifts of his
-Holy Spirit; to which add the writings, labours, and martyrdom
-of his dear followers in all times, there seems very little
-left of Christianity but the name; which being now usurped by
-the old heathen nature and life, makes the professors of it but
-true heathens in disguise. For though they worship not the same
-idols, they worship Christ with the same heart: and they can never
-do otherwise, whilst they live in the same lusts. So that the
-unmortified Christian and the heathen are of the same religion. For
-though they have different objects to which they do direct their
-prayers, that adoration in both is but forced and ceremonious, and
-the deity they truly worship is the god of the world, the great
-lord of lusts: to him they bow with the whole powers of soul and
-sense. What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear?
-And how shall we pass away our time? Which way may we gather
-wealth, increase our power, enlarge our territories, and dignify
-and perpetuate our names and families in the earth? Which base
-sensuality is most pathetically expressed and comprised by the
-beloved Apostle John, in these words: "The lust of the flesh, the
-lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," which, says he, "are not
-of the Father, but of the world, that lieth in wickedness." (1 John,
-ii. 16.)
-
-III. It is a mournful reflection, but a truth no confidence can
-be great enough to deny, that these worldly lusts fill up the
-study, care, and conversation of wretched Christendom! and, which
-aggravates the misery, they have grown with time. For as the world
-is older, it is worse; and the examples of former lewd ages, and
-their miserable conclusions, have not deterred, but excited ours; so
-that the people of this seem improvers of the old stock of impiety,
-and have carried it so much further than example, that instead of
-advancing in virtue upon better times, they are scandalously fallen
-below the life of heathens. Their high-mindedness, lasciviousness,
-uncleanness, drunkenness, swearing, lying, envy, backbiting,
-cruelty, treachery, covetousness, injustice, and oppression, are
-so common, and committed with such invention and excess, that they
-have stumbled and embittered infidels to a degree of scorning that
-holy religion, to which their good example should have won their
-affections.
-
-IV. This miserable defection from primitive times, when the glory
-of Christianity was the purity of its professors, I cannot but call
-the second and worst part of the Jewish tragedy upon the blessed
-Saviour of mankind. For the Jews, from the power of ignorance, and
-the extreme prejudice they were under to the unworldly way of his
-appearance, would not acknowledge him when he came, but for two or
-three years persecuted, and finally crucified him in one day. But
-the false Christians' cruelty lasts longer: they have first, with
-Judas, professed him, and then, for these many ages, most basely
-betrayed, persecuted, and crucified him, by a perpetual apostasy in
-manners, from the self-denial and holiness of his doctrine; their
-lives giving the lie to their faith. These are they that the author
-of the epistle to the Hebrews tells us, "Crucify to themselves
-the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame:" (Heb. vi. 6:)
-whose defiled hearts John in his Revelation styles, "The streets
-of Sodom and Egypt, spiritually so called, where also our Lord
-was crucified." (Rev. xi. 8.) And as Christ said of old, a man's
-enemies are those of his own house, so Christ's enemies now are
-chiefly those of his own profession; they spit upon him, they nail
-and pierce him, they crown him with thorns, and give him gall and
-vinegar to drink. (Matt. xxvii. 34.) Nor is it hard to apprehend;
-for they that live in the same evil nature and principle the Jews
-did, that crucified him outwardly, must needs crucify him inwardly;
-since they that reject the grace now in their own hearts, are one in
-stock and generation with the hard-hearted Jews, that resisted the
-grace that then appeared in and by Christ.
-
-V. Sin is of one nature all the world over; for though a liar is
-not a drunkard, nor a swearer a whoremonger, nor either properly
-a murderer, yet they are all of a church; all branches of the one
-wicked root; all of kin. They have but one father, the devil, as
-Christ said to the professing Jews, the visible church of that age:
-he slighted their claims to Abraham and Moses, and plainly told them
-"That he that committed sin, was the servant of sin." (John, viii.
-34, 35.) They did the devil's works, and therefore were the devil's
-children. The argument will always hold upon the same reasons, and
-therefore good still: "His servants ye are," saith Paul, "whom ye
-obey:" (Rom. vi. 16:) and saith John to the church of old, "Let no
-man deceive you; he that committeth sin is of the devil." (1 John,
-iii. 7, 8.) Was Judas ever the better Christian for crying, Hail,
-Master, and kissing Christ? By no means; they were the signal of
-his treachery; the tokens given by which the bloody Jews should
-know and take him. He called him Master, but betrayed him; he
-kissed, but sold him to be killed; this is the upshot of the false
-Christians' religion. If a man ask them, Is Christ your Lord? they
-will cry, God forbid else: yes, he is our Lord. Very well; but do
-you keep his commandments? No, how should we? How then are you his
-disciples? It is impossible, say they. What! would you have us keep
-his commandments? No man can. What! impossible to do that without
-which Christ hath made it impossible to be a Christian? Is Christ
-unreasonable? Does he reap where he has not sown? Require where he
-has not enabled? Thus it is, that with Judas they call him Master,
-but take part with the evil of the world to betray him; and kiss
-and embrace him as far as a specious profession goes; and then sell
-him, to gratify the passion that they most indulge. Thus as God said
-of old, they make him serve with their sins and for their sins too.
-(Isa. xliii. 24.)
-
-VI. Let no man deceive his own soul; "grapes are not gathered of
-thorns, nor figs of thistles:" (Matt. vii. 16:) a wolf is not a
-sheep, nor is a vulture a dove. What form, people, or church soever
-thou art of, it is the truth of God to mankind, that they which have
-even the form of godliness, but by their unmortified lives, deny the
-power thereof, make not the true, but false church: which, though
-she entitle herself the Lamb's bride, or church of Christ, (Rev.
-xvii. 5,) she is that mystery, or mysterious Babylon, fitly called
-by the Holy Ghost, the mother of harlots and all abominations:
-because degenerated from Christian chastity and purity, into all
-the enormities of heathen Babylon; a sumptuous city of old time,
-much noted for the seat of the kings of Babylon, and at that time
-the place in the world of the greatest pride and luxury. As she was
-then, so mystical Babylon is now the great enemy of God's people.
-
-VII. True it is, They that are born of the flesh, hate and persecute
-them that are born of the spirit, who are the circumcision in heart.
-It seems they cannot own nor worship God after her inventions,
-methods, and prescriptions, nor receive for doctrine her vain
-traditions, any more than they can comply with her corrupt fashions
-and customs in their conversation. The case being thus, from an
-apostate she becomes a persecutor. It is not enough that she herself
-declines from ancient purity, others must do so too. She will give
-them no rest that will not partake with her in that degeneracy,
-or receive her mark. Are any wiser than she, than mother church?
-No, no: nor can any make war with the beast she rides upon,
-those worldly powers that protect her, and vow their maintenance
-against the cries of her dissenters. Apostasy and superstition are
-ever proud and impatient of dissent: all must conform or perish.
-Therefore the slain witnesses, and blood of the souls under the
-altar, (Rev. vi. 9,) are found within the walls of this mystical
-Babylon, this great city of false Christians, and are charged upon
-her, by the Holy Ghost in the Revelation. Nor is it strange that she
-should slay the servants who first crucified the Lord: but strange
-and barbarous too, that she should kill her husband and murder
-her Saviour; titles she seems so fond of, and that have been so
-profitable to her; and that she would recommend herself by, though
-without all justice. But her children are reduced so entirely under
-the dominion of darkness, by means of their continued disobedience
-to the manifestation of the divine light in their souls, that they
-forget what man once was, or they should now be; and know not
-true and pure Christianity when they meet it; yet pride themselves
-upon professing it. Their measures are so carnal and false about
-salvation, they call good evil, and evil good; they make a devil
-a Christian, and a saint a devil. So that though the unrighteous
-latitude of their lives be matter of lamentation, as to themselves
-it is of destruction; yet that common apprehension, that they may
-be children of God, while in a state of disobedience to his holy
-commandments; and disciples of Jesus, though they revolt from his
-cross, and members of his true church, which is without spot or
-wrinkle, notwithstanding their lives are full of spots and wrinkles;
-is, of all other deceptions upon themselves, the most pernicious to
-their eternal condition. For they are at peace in sin, and under
-a security in their transgression. Their vain hope silences their
-convictions, and overlays all tender motions to repentance; so that
-their mistake about their duty to God is as mischievous as their
-rebellion against him.
-
-Thus they walk on precipices, and flatter themselves, till the grave
-swallows them up, and the judgments of the great God break their
-lethargy, and undeceive their poor wretched souls with the anguish
-of the wicked, as the reward of their work.
-
-VIII. This has been, is, and will be the doom of all worldly
-Christians: an end so dreadful, that if there were nothing of duty
-to God, or obligation to men, being a man, and one acquainted with
-the terrors of the Lord in the way and work of my own salvation,
-compassion alone were sufficient to excite me to this dissuasive
-against the world's superstitions and lusts, and to invite the
-professors of Christianity to the knowledge and obedience of the
-daily cross of Christ, as the alone way, left by him, and appointed
-us to blessedness; that they who now do but usurp the name may
-have the thing; and by the power of the cross, to which they are
-now dead, instead of being dead to the world by it, may be made
-partakers of the resurrection that is in Christ Jesus, unto newness
-of life. For they that are truly in Christ, that is, redeemed by,
-and interested in him, are new creatures. (Gal. vi. 15.) They have
-received a new will; such as does the will of God, not their own.
-They pray in truth, and do not mock God, when they say, Thy will be
-done on earth as it is in heaven. They have new affections; such
-as are set on things above, (Col. iii. 1, 2, 3,) and make Christ
-their eternal treasure. New faith; (1 John, 4, 5;) such as overcomes
-the snares and temptations of the world's spirit in themselves,
-or as it appears through others: and lastly, new works; not of a
-superstitious contrivance, or of human invention, but the pure
-fruits of the Spirit of Christ working in them, as love, joy, peace,
-meekness, long-suffering, temperance, brotherly-kindness, faith,
-patience, gentleness, and goodness, against which there is no law;
-and they that have not the Spirit of Christ, and walk not in it, the
-apostle Paul has told us, are none of his; (Rom. viii. 9;) but the
-wrath of God, and condemnation of the law, will lie upon them. For
-if there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ; who walk not
-after the flesh, but after the Spirit, which is Paul's doctrine;
-they that walk not according to that Holy Spirit, by his doctrine,
-are not in Christ: that is, have no interest in him, nor just claim
-to salvation by him: and consequently there is condemnation to such.
-
-IX. And the truth is, the religion of the wicked is a lie: "there
-is no peace, saith the prophet, to the wicked." (Isaiah, xlviii.
-22.) Indeed there can be none; they are reproved in their own
-consciences, and condemned in their own hearts, in all their
-disobedience. Go where they will, rebukes go with them, and
-oftentimes terrors too: for it is an offended God that pricks
-them, and who, by his light, sets their sins in order before them.
-Sometimes they strive to appease him by their corporeal framed
-devotion and worship, but in vain; for true worshipping of God
-is doing his will, which they transgress. The rest is a false
-compliment, like him that said he would go, and did not. (Matt.
-xxi. 30.) Sometimes they fly to sports and company, to drown the
-reprover's voice, and blunt his arrows, to chase away troubled
-thoughts, and secure themselves out of the reach of the disquieter
-of their pleasures; but the Almighty, first or last, is sure to
-overtake them. There is no flying his final justice, for those
-that reject the terms of his mercy. Impenitent rebels to his law
-may then call to the mountains, and run to the caves of the earth
-for protection, but in vain. His all-searching eye will penetrate
-their thickest coverings, and strike up a light in that obscurity,
-which shall terrify their guilty souls; and which they shall never
-be able to extinguish. Indeed, their accuser is with them, they
-can no more be rid of him than of themselves; he is in the midst
-of them, and will stick close to them. That spirit which bears
-witness with the spirits of the just will bear witness against
-theirs. Nay, their own hearts will abundantly come in against them;
-and, "if our hearts condemn us," saith the apostle John, "God is
-greater, and knows all things;" (1 John iii. 20;) that is, there
-is no escaping the judgments of God, whose power is infinite, if
-a man is not able to escape the condemnation of himself. It is at
-that day proud and luxurious Christians shall learn that God is no
-respecter of persons; that all sects and names shall be swallowed up
-in these two kinds, sheep and goats, just and unjust: and the very
-righteous must have a trial for it; which made that holy man cry
-out, "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly
-and the sinner appear?" (1 Pet. iv. 18.) If their thoughts, words,
-and works must stand the test, and come under scrutiny before the
-impartial Judge of heaven and earth, how then should the ungodly be
-exempted? No; we are told by him that cannot lie, many shall then
-even cry, Lord, Lord! set forth their profession, and recount the
-works that they have done in his name, to make him propitious, and
-yet be rejected with this direful sentence, "Depart from me, ye
-workers of iniquity; I know you not." (Matt. vii. 23.) As if he had
-said, Get you gone, you evil doers; though you have professed me,
-I will not know you; your vain and evil lives have made you unfit
-for my holy kingdom: get you hence, and go to the gods whom you
-have served; your beloved lusts which you have worshipped, and the
-evil world that you have so much coveted and adored: let them save
-you now, if they can, from the wrath to come upon you, which is the
-wages of the deeds you have done. Here is the end of their work that
-build upon the sand; the breath of the Judge will blow it down, and
-woful will the fall thereof be. Oh, it is now that the righteous
-have the better of the wicked! which made an apostate cry, in old
-time, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end
-be like unto his." (Numb. xxiii. 10.) For the sentence is changed,
-and the Judge smiles; he casts the eye of love upon his own sheep,
-and invites them with "Come, ye blessed of my Father," (Matt. xxv.
-34,) that through patient continuance in well-doing have long waited
-for immortality; you have been the true companions of my tribulation
-and cross, and, with unwearied faithfulness, in obedience to my
-holy will, valiantly endured to the end, looking to me, the Author
-of your precious faith, for the recompense of reward that I have
-promised to them that love me, and faint not: O, enter ye into the
-joy of your Lord, and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
-foundation of the world.
-
-X. O Christendom! my soul most fervently prays, that after all thy
-lofty profession of Christ, and his meek and holy religion, thy
-unsuitable and un-Christ-like life may not cast thee at that great
-assize of the world, and lose thee so great salvation at last. Hear
-me once, I beseech thee: can Christ be thy Lord, and thou not obey
-him? or, canst thou be his servant, and never serve him? "Be not
-deceived, such as thou sowest shalt thou reap." (Gal. vi. 7.) He is
-none of thy Saviour whilst thou rejectest his grace in thy heart, by
-which he should save thee. Come, what has he saved thee from? Has
-he saved thee from thy sinful lusts, thy worldly affections, and
-vain conversations? If not, then he is none of thy Saviour. For,
-though he be offered a Saviour to all, yet he is actually a Saviour
-to those only that are saved by him; and none are saved by him that
-live in those evils by which they are lost from God, and which he
-came to save them from.
-
-It is sin that Christ is come to save man from, and death and wrath,
-as the wages of it; but those that are not saved, that is delivered,
-by the power of Christ in their souls, from the power that sin has
-had over them, can never be saved from the death and wrath, that are
-the assured wages of the sin they live in.
-
-So that look how far people obtain victory over those evil
-dispositions and fleshly lusts, they have been addicted to, so far
-they are truly saved, and are witnesses of the redemption that comes
-by Jesus Christ. His name shows his work: "And thou shalt call his
-name JESUS, for he shall save his people from their sin." (Matt. i.
-21.) "Behold," said John, of Christ, "the Lamb of God that takes
-away the sins of the world." (John, i. 29.) That is, behold him whom
-God hath given to enlighten people, and for salvation to as many as
-receive him, and his light and grace in their hearts, and take up
-their daily cross and follow him; such as rather deny themselves the
-pleasure of fulfilling their lusts than sin against the knowledge he
-has given them of his will, or do that they know they ought not to
-do.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-     1. By this Christendom may see her lapse, how foul it is, and
-     next, the worse for her pretence to Christianity.--2. But there
-     is mercy with God upon repentance, and propitiation in the
-     blood of Jesus.--3. He is the light of the world that reproves
-     the darkness, that is, the evil of the world; and he is to be
-     known within.--4. Christendom, like the inn of old, is full of
-     other guests: she is advised to believe in, receive, and apply
-     to Christ.--5. Of the nature of true faith; it brings power
-     to overcome every appearance of evil: this leads to consider
-     the Cross of Christ, which has been so much wanted.--6. The
-     apostolic ministry, and end of it; its blessed effect; the
-     character of apostolic times.--7. The glory of the cross, and
-     its triumph over the heathen world. A measure to Christendom,
-     what she is not, and should be.--8. Her declension, and cause
-     of it.--9. The miserable effects that followed.--10. From the
-     consideration of the cause the cure may be more easily known,
-     viz., Not faithfully taking up the daily cross; then, faithfully
-     taking it daily up must be the remedy.
-
-
-I. By all which has been said, O Christendom! and by that better
-help, if thou wouldst use it, the lamp the Lord has lighted in thee,
-not utterly extinct, it may evidently appear, first, how great and
-full thy backsliding has been, who, from the temple of the Lord,
-art become a cage of unclean birds; and of a house of prayer, a
-den of thieves, a synagogue of Satan, and the receptacle of every
-defiled spirit. Next, that under all this manifest defection, thou
-hast nevertheless valued thy corrupt self upon thy profession of
-Christianity, and fearfully deluded thyself with the hopes of
-salvation. The first makes thy disease dangerous, but the last
-almost incurable.
-
-II. Yet, because there is mercy with God that he may be feared,
-and that he takes no delight in the eternal death of poor sinners,
-no, though backsliders themselves, (Ezek. xviii. 20, 23, 24,) but
-is willing all should come to the knowledge and obedience of the
-Truth, and be saved, he hath set forth his Son a propitiation, and
-given him as a Saviour to take away the sins of the whole world,
-that those that believe and follow him may feel the righteousness
-of God in the remission of their sins, and blotting out their
-transgressions for ever. (Matt. i. 21; Luke i. 77; Rom. iii. 25;
-Heb. ix. 24 to 28; 1 John ii. 1, 2.) Now, behold the remedy! an
-infallible cure, one of God's appointing; a precious elixir, indeed,
-that never fails; and that universal medicine which no malady could
-ever escape.
-
-III. But thou wilt say, What is Christ? and where is he to be
-found? and how received and applied, in order to this mighty cure?
-I tell thee then, first, he is the great spiritual light of the
-world that enlightens every one that comes into the world; by which
-he manifests to them their deeds of darkness and wickedness, and
-reproves them for committing them. Secondly, he is not far away
-from thee, (Acts, xvii. 27.) as the apostle Paul said of God to the
-Athenians. "Behold," says Christ himself, "I stand at the door and
-knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in
-to him, and sup with him, and he with me." (Rev. iii. 20.) What door
-can this be but that of the heart of man?
-
-IV. Thou, like the inn of old, hast been full of guests; thy
-affections have entertained other lovers; there has been no room for
-thy Saviour in thy soul. Wherefore salvation is not yet come into
-thy house, though it is come to thy door, and thou hast been often
-proffered it, and hast professed it long. But if he calls, if he
-knocks still, that is, if his light yet shines, if it reproves thee
-still, there is hope thy day is not over, and that repentance is
-not yet hid from thine eyes; but his love is after thee still, and
-his holy invitation continues to save thee.
-
-Wherefore, O Christendom! believe, receive, and apply him rightly;
-this is of absolute necessity, that thy soul may live for ever with
-him. He told the Jews, "If you believe not that I am he, ye shall
-die in your sins; and whither I go ye cannot come." (John, viii.
-21, 24.) And because they believed him not, they did not receive
-him, nor any benefit by him. But they that believed him received
-him; and as many as received him, his own beloved disciple tells us,
-"to them gave he power to become the sons of God, which are born
-not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
-but of God." (John, i. 12, 13.) That is, who are not children of
-God after the fashions, prescriptions, and traditions of men, that
-call themselves his church and people, which is not after the will
-of flesh and blood, and the invention of carnal man, unacquainted
-with the regeneration and power of the Holy Ghost, but of God; that
-is, according to his will and the working and sanctification of his
-Spirit and word of life in them. And such were ever well versed in
-the right application of Christ, for he was made to them indeed
-propitiation, reconciliation, salvation, righteousness, redemption,
-and justification.
-
-So I say to thee, unless thou believest that he that stands at the
-door of thy heart and knocks, and sets thy sins in order before
-thee, and calls thee to repentance, be the Saviour of the world,
-thou wilt die in thy sins, and where he is gone thou wilt never
-come. For, if thou believest not in him, it is impossible that he
-should do thee good, or effect thy salvation: Christ works not
-against faith, but by it. It is said of old, "He did not many mighty
-works in some places, because the people believed not in him."
-(John, i. 12, 13.) So that, if thou truly believest in him, thine
-ear will be attentive to his voice in thee, and the door of thine
-heart open to his knocks. Thou wilt yield to the discoveries of his
-light, and the teachings of his grace will be very dear to thee.
-
-V. It is the nature of true faith to beget a holy fear of offending
-God, a deep reverence to his precepts, and a most tender regard to
-the inward testimony of his Spirit, as that by which his children
-in all ages have been safely led to glory. For, as they that truly
-believe receive Christ in all his tenders to the soul, so as true
-it is that those who receive him thus, with him receive power to
-become the sons of God: that is, an inward force and ability to do
-whatever he requires; strength to mortify their lusts, controul
-their affections, resist evil motions, deny themselves, and overcome
-the world in its most enticing appearances. This is the life of
-the blessed Cross of Christ, which is the subject of the following
-discourse, and what thou, O man, must take up, if thou intendest
-to be the disciple of Jesus. Nor canst thou be said to receive
-Christ, or to believe in him, whilst thou rejectest his cross. For,
-as receiving of Christ is the means appointed of God to salvation,
-so bearing the daily cross after him is the only true testimony of
-receiving him, and therefore it is enjoined by him as the great
-token of discipleship, "If any man will come after me, let him deny
-himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Matt. xvi. 24.)
-
-This, Christendom, is that thou hast so much wanted, and the want
-of which has proved the only cause of thy miserable declension from
-pure Christianity. To consider which well, as it is thy duty, so it
-is of great use to thy restoration.
-
-For as the knowledge of the cause of any distemper guides the
-physician to make a right and safe judgment in the application of
-his medicine, so it will much enlighten thee in the way of thy
-recovery, to know and weigh the first cause of this spiritual lapse
-and malady that has befallen thee. To do which, a general view of
-thy primitive estate, and consequently of their work that first
-laboured in the Christian vineyard, will be needful; and if therein
-something be repeated, the weight and dignity of the subject will
-bear it, without the need of an apology.
-
-VI. The work of apostleship, we are told by a prime labourer in
-it, was to turn people "from darkness to light, and from the power
-of Satan unto God." (Acts, xxvi. 18.) That is, instead of yielding
-to the temptations and motions of Satan, who is the prince of
-darkness or wickedness, the one being a metaphor to the other, by
-whose power their understandings were obscured, and their souls
-held in the service of sin, they should turn their minds to the
-appearance of Christ, the Light and Saviour of the world; who by
-his light shines in their souls, and thereby gives them a sight
-of their sins, and discovers every temptation and motion in them
-unto evil, and reproves them when they give way thereunto; that so
-they might become the children of light, and walk in the path of
-righteousness. And for this blessed work of reformation did Christ
-endue his apostles with his spirit and power, that so men might not
-longer sleep in a security of sin and ignorance of God, but awake
-to righteousness, that the Lord Jesus might give them life; that
-is, that they might leave off sinning, deny themselves the pleasure
-of wickedness, and, by true repentance, turn their hearts to God
-in well doing, in which is peace. And truly God so blessed the
-faithful labours of these poor mechanics, yet his great ambassadors
-to mankind, that in a few years many thousands that had lived
-without God in the world, without a sense or fear of him, lawlessly,
-very strangers to the work of his Spirit in their hearts, being
-captivated by fleshly lusts, were inwardly struck and quickened by
-the word of life, and made sensible of the coming and power of the
-Lord Jesus Christ as a judge and lawgiver in their souls, by whose
-holy light and spirit the hidden things of darkness were brought
-to light and condemned, and pure repentance from those dead works
-begotten in them, that they might serve the living God in newness of
-spirit. So that thenceforward they lived not to themselves, neither
-were they carried away of those former divers lusts, by which they
-had been seduced from the true fear of God; but "the law of the
-spirit of life," (Rom. viii. 2,) by which they overcame the law of
-sin and death, was their delight, and therein did they meditate day
-and night. Their regard towards God was not taught by the precepts
-of men any longer, (Isaiah, xxix. 13,) but from the knowledge they
-had received by his own work and impressions in their souls. They
-had quitted their old masters, the world, the flesh, and the devil,
-and delivered up themselves to the holy guidance of the grace of
-Christ, that taught them to "deny ungodliness and the world's lusts,
-and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present life:"
-(Tit. ii. 11, 12:) this is the cross of Christ indeed, and here is
-the victory it gives to them that take it up; by this cross they
-died daily to the old life they had lived, and by holy watchfulness
-against the secret motions of evil in their hearts they crushed
-sin in its conceptions, yea in its temptations. So that they, as
-the apostle John advised them, "kept themselves, that the evil one
-touched them not." (1 John, v. 18.)
-
-For the light, which Satan cannot endure, and with which Christ had
-enlightened them, discovered him in all his approaches and assaults
-upon the mind; and the power they received through their inward
-obedience to the manifestations of that blessed light, enabled them
-to resist and vanquish him in all his stratagems. And thus it was
-that, where once nothing was examined, nothing went unexamined;
-every thought must come to judgment, and the rise and tendency of
-it be also well approved, before they allowed it any room in their
-minds. There was no fear of entertaining enemies for friends, whilst
-this strict guard was kept upon the very wicket of the soul. Now the
-old heavens and earth, that is, the old earthly conversation, and
-old carnal, that is Jewish or shadowy worship, passed away apace,
-and every day all things became new. He was no more a Jew that was
-one outwardly, nor that circumcision that was in the flesh; but he
-was the Jew that was one inwardly, and that circumcision which was
-of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is
-not of man, but of God. (Rom. ii. 28, 29.)
-
-VII. Indeed, the glory of the cross shined so conspicuously through
-the self-denial of their lives who daily bore it, that it struck
-the heathen with astonishment; and in a small time so shook their
-altars, discredited their oracles, struck the multitude, invaded the
-court, and overcame their armies, that it led priests, magistrates,
-and generals in triumph after it, as the trophies of its power and
-victory.
-
-And, while this integrity dwelt with Christians, mighty was
-the presence, and invincible that power that attended them; it
-quenched fire, daunted lions, turned the edge of the sword,
-outfaced instruments of cruelty, convicted judges, and converted
-executioners. (Heb. xi. 32, to the end; Isaiah, xliii. 2; Daniel,
-iii. 12, to the end.) In fine, the way their enemies took to
-destroy, increased them; and, by the deep wisdom of God, they who
-in all their designs endeavoured to extinguish the truth were made
-great promoters of it. (Dan. vi. 16, to the end.) Now, not a vain
-thought, not an idle word, not an unseemly action was permitted; no,
-not an immodest look, no courtly dress, gay apparel, complimental
-respects, or personal honours: much less those lewd immoralities
-and scandalous vices, now in vogue with Christians, could find
-either example or connivance among them. Their care was not how to
-sport away their precious time, but how to redeem it, (Eph. v. 15,
-16,) that they might have enough to work out their great salvation,
-which they carefully did, with fear and trembling: not with balls
-and masks, with playhouses, dancing, feasting, and gaming; no,
-no; to make sure of their heavenly calling and election was much
-dearer to them than the poor and trifling joys of mortality. For
-they having, with Moses, seen him that is invisible, and found
-that his loving-kindness was better than life, the peace of his
-Spirit than the favour of princes,--as they feared not Cæsar's
-wrath,--so they chose rather to sustain the afflictions of Christ's
-true pilgrims than enjoy the pleasures of sin that were but for a
-season; esteeming his reproaches of more value than the perishing
-treasures of the earth. And if the tribulations of Christianity were
-more eligible than the comforts of the world, and the reproaches
-of one than all the honour of the other, there was then surely no
-temptations in it that could shake the integrity of Christendom.
-
-VIII. By this short draught of what Christendom was, thou mayest
-see, O Christendom, what thou are not, and consequently what thou
-oughtest to be. But how comes it that from a Christendom that was
-thus meek, merciful, self-denying, suffering, temperate, holy,
-just, and good, so like to Christ, whose name she bore, we find a
-Christendom now that is superstitious, idolatrous, persecuting,
-proud, passionate, envious, malicious, selfish, drunken, lascivious,
-unclean, lying, swearing, cursing, covetous, oppressing, defrauding,
-with all other abominations known in the earth?
-
-I lay this down as the undoubted reason of this degeneracy, to wit,
-the inward disregard of thy mind to the light of Christ shining
-in thee, that first showed thee thy sins and reproved them, and
-that taught and enabled thee to deny and resist them. For as thy
-fear towards God, and holy abstinence from unrighteousness, was,
-at first, not taught by the precepts of men, but by that light
-and grace which revealed the most secret thoughts and purposes of
-thine heart, and searched the most inward parts, setting thy sins
-in order before thee, and reproving thee for them, not suffering
-one unfruitful thought, word, or work of darkness to go unjudged;
-so when thou didst begin to disregard that light and grace, to be
-careless of that holy watch that was once set up in thine heart, and
-didst not keep sentinel there, as formerly, for God's glory and thy
-own peace, the restless enemy of man's good quickly took advantage
-of this slackness, and often surprised thee with temptations, whose
-suitableness to thy inclinations made his conquest over thee not
-difficult.
-
-In short, thou didst omit to take up Christ's holy yoke, to bear
-thy daily cross; thou wast careless of thy affections, and kept
-no journal or check upon thy actions; but didst decline to audit
-accounts in thy own conscience, with Christ thy light, the great
-Bishop of thy soul and Judge of thy works, whereby the holy fear
-decayed and love waxed cold, vanity abounded, and duty became
-burdensome. Then up came formality, instead of the power of
-godliness; superstition, in place of Christ's institution: and
-whereas Christ's business was to draw on the minds of his disciples
-from an outward temple, and carnal rites and services, to the inward
-and spiritual worship of God, suitable to the nature of divinity, a
-worldly, human, pompous worship is brought in again, and a worldly
-priesthood, temple, and altar, are re-established. Now it was that
-the sons of God once more saw the daughters of men were fair, (Gen.
-vi. 2,) that is, the pure eye grew dim, which repentance had opened,
-that saw no comeliness out of Christ, and the eye of lust became
-unclosed again by the god of the world; and those worldly pleasures
-that make such as love them forget God, though once despised for the
-sake of Christ, began now to recover their old beauty and interest
-in thy affections, and from liking them, to be the study, care, and
-pleasure of thy life.
-
-True, there still remained the exterior forms of worship and a
-nominal and oral reverence to God and Christ, but that was all; for
-the offence of the holy cross ceased, the power of godliness was
-denied, self-denial lost, and, though fruitful in the invention
-of ceremonious ornaments, yet barren in the blessed fruits of the
-Spirit. And a thousand shells cannot make one kernel, or many dead
-corpses one living man.
-
-IX. Thus religion fell from experience to tradition, and worship
-from power to form, from life to letter; and, instead of putting up
-lively and powerful requests, animated by a deep sense of want and
-the assistance of the Holy Spirit,--by which the ancients prayed,
-wrestled, and prevailed with God,--behold a by-rote _mumpsimus_,
-a dull and insipid formality, made up of corporeal bowings and
-cringings, garments and furnitures, perfumes, voices, and music,
-fitter for the reception of some earthly prince than the heavenly
-worship of the one true and immortal God, who is an eternal,
-invisible Spirit.
-
-But thy heart growing carnal, thy religion did so too; and, not
-liking it as it was, thou fashionedst it to thy liking: forgetting
-what the holy prophet said, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an
-abomination to the Lord," (Prov. xv. 8,) and what St. James saith,
-"Ye ask, and receive not." (James, iv. 3.) Why? "Because ye ask
-amiss;" that is, with a heart that is not right, but insincere,
-unmortified, not in the faith that purifies the soul, and therefore
-can never receive what is asked: so that a man may say with truth,
-thy condition is worse by thy religion, because thou art tempted to
-think thyself better for it, and art not.
-
-X. Well; by this prospect that is given thee of thy foul fall from
-primitive Christianity, and the true cause of it,--to wit, a neglect
-of the daily cross of Christ,--it may be easy for thee to inform
-thyself of the way of thy recovery.
-
-For, look, at what door thou wentest out, at that door thou must
-come in; and, as letting fall and forbearing the daily cross lost
-thee, so taking up and enduring the daily cross must recover thee.
-It is the same way by which the sinners and apostates become the
-disciples of Jesus. "Whosoever," says Christ, "will come after me
-and be my disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his daily
-cross and follow me." (Matthew, xvi. 24; Mark, viii. 34; Luke,
-xiv. 27.) Nothing short of this will do; mark that! for, as it is
-sufficient, so it is indispensable; no crown but by the cross, no
-life eternal but through death; and it is but just that those evil
-and barbarous affections that crucified Christ afresh, should, by
-his holy cross, be crucified.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-     1. What the cross of Christ is. A figurative speech, but truly
-     the Divine power that mortifies the world.--2. It is so called
-     by the apostle Paul to the Corinthians.--3. Where it is the
-     cross appears, and must be borne? Within; where the lusts are,
-     there they must be crucified.--4. Experience teaches every
-     one this; to be sure Christ asserts it, from within comes
-     murder, &c., and that is the house where the strong man must be
-     bound.--5. How is the cross to be borne? The way is spiritual, a
-     denial of self, of the pleasure of sin; to please God, and obey
-     his will as manifested to the soul by the light He gives it.--6.
-     This shows the difficulty, yet the necessity of the cross.
-
-
-The daily cross being then, and still, O Christendom! the way to
-glory, that the succeeding matter, which wholly relates to the
-doctrine of it, may come with most evidence and advantage upon thy
-conscience it is most seriously to be considered by thee,--
-
-First, What the cross of Christ is?
-
-Secondly, Where the cross of Christ is to be taken up?
-
-Thirdly, How, and after what manner it is to be borne?
-
-Fourthly, What is the great work and business of the cross? In
-which, the sins it crucifies, with the mischiefs that attend them,
-will be at large expressed.
-
-Fifthly and lastly, I shall add many testimonies from living and
-dying persons of great reputation, either for their quality,
-learning, or piety, as a general confirmation of the whole tract.
-
-To the first, What is the cross of Christ?
-
-I. The cross of Christ is a figurative speech, borrowed from the
-outward tree, or wooden cross, on which Christ submitted to the will
-of God, suffering death at the hands of evil men. So that the cross
-mystical is that Divine grace and power which crosseth the carnal
-wills of men, and gives a contradiction to their corrupt affections,
-and that constantly opposeth itself to the inordinate and fleshly
-appetite of their minds, and so may be justly termed the instrument
-of man's wholly dying to the world, and being made conformable
-to the will of God. For nothing else can mortify sin, or make it
-easy for us to submit to the Divine will in things otherwise very
-contrary to their own.
-
-II. The preaching of the cross, therefore, in primitive times was
-fitly called by Paul, that famous and skilful apostle in spiritual
-things, "the power of God," though to them that perish, then, as
-now, "foolishness." That is, to those that were truly weary and
-heavy laden, and needed a deliverer, to whom sin was burdensome
-and odious, the preaching of the cross, by which sin was to be
-mortified, was, as to them, the power of God, or a preaching of
-the Divine power by which they were made disciples of Christ and
-children of God; and it wrought so powerfully upon them that no
-proud nor licentious mockers could put them out of love with it.
-But to those that walked in the broad way, in the full latitude of
-their lusts, and dedicated their time and care to the pleasure of
-their corrupt appetites, to whom all yoke and bridle were and are
-intolerable, the preaching of the cross was and is foolishness.
-
-III. Well: but then where does this cross appear, and where must it
-be taken up?
-
-I answer, within: that is, in the heart and soul; for where the
-sin is, the cross must be. Now all evil comes from within: this
-Christ taught: "From within," saith Christ, "out of the heart of man
-proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts,
-covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye,
-blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evils come from within, and
-defile the man." (Mark, vii. 21, 22, 23.)
-
-The heart of man is the seat of sin, and where he is defiled he must
-be sanctified; and where sin lives, there it must die: it must be
-crucified. Custom in evil hath made it natural to men to do evil;
-and as the soul rules the body, so the corrupt nature sways the
-whole man: but still, it is all from within.
-
-IV. Experience teaches every son and daughter of Adam to assent to
-this; for the enemy's temptations are ever directed to the mind,
-which is within: if they take not, the soul sins not; if they are
-embraced, lust is presently conceived, that is, inordinate desires;
-lust conceived, brings forth sin; and sin finished, that is, acted,
-brings forth death. (James, v. 15.) Here is both the cause and the
-effect, the very genealogy of sin, its rise and end.
-
-In all this, the heart of evil man is the devil's mint, his
-work-house, the place of his residence, where he exercises his
-power and art. And therefore the redemption of the soul is aptly
-called the destruction of the works of the devil, and bringing in of
-everlasting righteousness. (1 John, iii. 8.; Dan. ix. 24.) When the
-Jews would have defamed Christ's miracle of casting out devils, by a
-blasphemous imputation of it to the power of Beelzebub, he says that
-"no man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods,
-till he first bind the strong man." (Matt. xii. 29.) Which, as it
-shows the contrariety that was between Beelzebub and the power by
-which he dispossessed him, so it teaches us to know that the souls
-of the wicked are the devil's house, and that his goods, his evil
-works, can never be destroyed till first he that wrought them, and
-keeps the house, be bound. All which makes it easy to know where the
-cross must be taken up, by which alone the strong man must be bound,
-his goods spoiled, and his temptations resisted, that is, within, in
-the heart of man.
-
-V. But in the next place, how and in what manner is the cross to be
-daily borne?
-
-The way, like the cross, is spiritual: that is an inward submission
-of the soul to the will of God, as it is manifested by the light of
-Christ in the consciences of men, though it be contrary to their own
-inclinations. For example: when evil presents, that which shows the
-evil does also tell them they should not yield to it; and if they
-close with its counsel, it gives them power to escape it. But they
-that look and gaze upon the temptation, at last fall in with it, and
-are overcome by it; the consequence of which is guilt and judgment.
-Therefore, as the cross of Christ is that spirit and power in men,
-though not of men, but of God, which crosseth and reproveth their
-fleshly lusts and affections; so the way of taking up the cross is
-an entire resignation of soul to the discoveries and requirings
-of it: not to consult their worldly pleasure, or carnal ease, or
-interest, for such are captivated in a moment, but continually to
-watch against the very appearances of evil, and by the obedience of
-faith, that is, of true love to, and confidence in God, cheerfully
-to offer up to the death of the cross, that evil part, that Judas
-in themselves, which, not enduring the heat of the siege, and being
-impatient in the hour of temptation, would, by its near relation to
-the tempter, more easily betray their souls into his hands.
-
-VI. O this shows to every one's experience how hard it is to be a
-true disciple of Jesus! the way is narrow indeed, and the gate very
-strait, where not a word, no not a thought must slip the watch, or
-escape judgment; such circumspection, such caution, such patience,
-such constancy, such holy fear and trembling. This gives an easy
-interpretation to that hard saying, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit
-the kingdom of God;" (Matt. xxiv. 42; xxv. 13; xxvi. 38, 42;) those
-that are captivated with fleshly lusts and affections: for they
-cannot bear the cross; and they that cannot endure the cross must
-never have the crown. To reign, it is necessary first to suffer.
-(Phil. ii. 12; 1 Cor. xv. 50.)
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-     1. What is the great work of the cross? The answer to this is
-     of great moment.--2. The work of the cross is self-denial.--3.
-     What was the cup and cross of Christ?--4. What is our cup and
-     cross?--5. Our duty is to follow Christ as our captain.--6.
-     Of the distinction in self, a lawful and unlawful self.--7.
-     What the lawful self is.--8. That it is to be denied in some
-     cases by Christ's doctrine and example.--9. By the Apostle's
-     pattern.--10. The danger of preferring lawful self above our
-     duty to God.--11. The reward of self-denial an excitement to
-     it.--12. This doctrine as old as Abraham.--13. His obedience
-     of faith memorable.--14. Job a great instance of self-denial,
-     his contentment.--15. Moses also a mighty example, his neglect
-     of Pharaoh's court.--16. His choice.--17. The reason of it,
-     viz. the recompense of reward.--18. Isaiah no inconsiderable
-     instance, who of a courtier, became a holy prophet.--19. These
-     instances concluded with that of holy Daniel, his patience and
-     integrity, and the success they had upon the king.--20. There
-     might be many mentioned to confirm this blessed doctrine.--21.
-     All must be left for Christ, as men would be saved.--22. The
-     way of God is a way of faith and self-denial.--23. An earnest
-     supplication and exhortation to all, to attend upon these things.
-
-
-But fourthly, What is the great work and business of the cross
-respecting man?
-
-Answ. I. This indeed is of that mighty moment to be truly, plainly,
-and thoroughly answered, that all that went before seems only to
-serve for preface to it; and miscarrying in it to be no less than
-a misguidance of the soul about its way to blessedness. I shall
-therefore pursue the question, with God's help, and the best
-knowledge He hath given me in the experience of several years'
-discipleship.
-
-II. The great work and business of the cross of Christ in man
-is self-denial; a word of as much depth in itself as of sore
-contradiction to the world, little understood but less embraced by
-it, yet it must be borne for all that. The Son of God is gone before
-us, and, by the bitter cup He drank and the baptism He suffered, has
-left us an example that we should follow in his steps; which made
-him put that hard question to the wife of Zebedee and her two sons,
-upon her soliciting that one might sit at his right and the other at
-his left hand in his kingdom, "Are ye able to drink of the cup that
-I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized
-with?" It seems their faith was strong; they answered, "We are
-able." Upon which he replied, "Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and
-be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with;" but their reward
-he left to his Father. (Matt. xx. 21, 22, 23.)
-
-III. What was his cup he drank, and baptism he suffered? I answer,
-they were the denial and offering up of himself by the eternal
-Spirit to the will of God, undergoing the tribulations of his life
-and agonies of his death upon the cross for man's salvation.
-
-IV. What is our cup and cross that we should drink and suffer? They
-are the denial and offering up of ourselves, by the same Spirit, to
-do or suffer the will of God for his service and glory, which is
-the true life and obedience of the cross of Jesus; narrow still,
-but before an unbeaten way. For when there was none to help, not
-one to open the seals, to give knowledge, to direct the course
-of poor man's recovery, He came in the greatness of his love and
-strength; and though clothed with the infirmities of a mortal man,
-being within fortified with the almightiness of an immortal God, He
-travelled through all the straits and difficulties of humanity, and
-first, of all others, trod the untrodden path to blessedness.
-
-V. O come! let us follow Him, the most unwearied, the most
-victorious captain of our salvation; to whom all the great
-Alexanders and mighty Cæsars of the world are less than the poorest
-soldier of their camps could be to them. True, they were all great
-princes of their kind, and conquerors too, but on very different
-principles. For Christ made himself of no reputation, to save
-mankind; but these plentifully ruined people to augment theirs. They
-vanquished others, not themselves; Christ conquered self, that ever
-vanquished them; of merit therefore the most excellent Prince and
-Conqueror. Besides, they advanced their empire by rapine and blood,
-but He by suffering and persuasion; He never by compulsion, they
-always by force prevailed. Misery and slavery followed all their
-victories, his brought greater freedom and felicity to those he
-overcame. In all they did they sought to please themselves; in all
-He did he aimed to please his Father, who is King of kings and Lord
-of lords.
-
-It is this most perfect pattern of self-denial we must follow, if
-ever we will come to glory; to do which let us consider self-denial
-in its true distinction and extent.
-
-VI. There is a lawful and unlawful self: and both must be denied
-for the sake of him, who in submission to the will of God counted
-nothing dear that he might save us. And, though the world be
-scarcely in any part of it at that pass as yet to need that
-lesson of the denial of lawful self, that every day most greedily
-sacrifices to the pleasure of unlawful self; yet to take the whole
-thing before me, and for that it may possibly meet with some that
-are so far advanced in this spiritual warfare as to receive some
-service from it, I shall at least touch upon it.
-
-VII. The lawful self which we are to deny, is that conveniency,
-ease, enjoyment, and plenty, which in themselves are so far from
-being evil, that they are the bounty and blessings of God to us, as
-husband, wife, child, house, land, reputation, liberty, and life
-itself; these are God's favours, which we may enjoy with lawful
-pleasure and justly improve as our honest interest. But when God
-requires them, at what time soever the lender calls for them or
-is pleased to try our affections by our parting with them; I say,
-when they are brought in competition with him, they must not be
-preferred, they must be denied. Christ himself descended from the
-glory of his Father, and willingly made himself of no reputation
-among men, that he might make us of some with God; and, from the
-quality of thinking it no robbery to be equal with God, he humbled
-himself to the poor form of a servant; yea, the ignominious death of
-the cross. (Phil. ii. 5, 6, 7, 8.)
-
-VIII. It is the doctrine he teaches us in these words, "He that
-loveth father or mother, son or daughter, more than me, is not
-worthy of me." (Matt. x. 37.) Again, "Whoever he be of you that
-forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple." (Luke, xiv.
-33.) And he plainly told the young rich man that if he would have
-eternal life, he should sell all and follow him; (Mark, x. 21, 22;)
-a doctrine sad to him as it is to those that, like him, for all
-their high pretences to religion, in truth love their possessions
-more than Christ. This doctrine of self-denial is the condition
-to eternal happiness, "He that will come after me, let him deny
-himself, and take up his cross and follow me." (Matt. xvi. 24.)
-
-IX. This made those honest fishermen quit their lawful trades and
-follow him, when he called them to it, and others that waited for
-the consolation of Israel to offer up their estates, reputations,
-liberties, and also lives, to the displeasure and fury of their
-kindred and the government they lived under for the spiritual
-advantage that accrued to them by their faithful adherence to his
-holy doctrine. True, many would have excused their following him in
-the parable of the feast: some had bought land, some had married
-wives, and others had bought yokes of oxen, and could not come;
-(Luke, xiv. 18, 19, 20;) that is, an immoderate love of the world
-hindered them: their lawful enjoyments, from servants became their
-idols; they worshipped them more than God, and would not quit them
-to come to God. But this is recorded to their reproach; and we may
-herein see the power of self upon the worldly man, and the danger
-that comes to him by the abuse of lawful things. What, thy wife
-dearer to thee than thy Saviour! and thy land and oxen preferred
-before thy soul's salvation! O beware, that thy comforts prove not
-snares first, and then curses: to overrate them, is to provoke him
-that gave them to take them away again: come, and follow him that
-giveth life eternal to the soul.
-
-X. Woe to them that have their hearts in their earthly possessions!
-for when they are gone, their heaven is gone with them. It is too
-much the sin of the greatest part of the world, that they stick
-in the comforts of it. And it is lamentable to behold how their
-affections are bemired and entangled with their conveniencies and
-accommodations in it. The true self-denying man is a pilgrim; but
-the selfish man is an inhabitant of the world: the one uses it, as
-men do ships, to transport themselves or tackle in a journey, that
-is, to get home; the other looks no further, whatever he prates,
-than to be fixed in fulness and ease here, and likes it so well,
-that if he could, he would not exchange. However, he will not
-trouble himself to think of the other world, till he is sure he must
-live no longer in this: but then, alas! it may prove too late; not
-to Abraham, but to Dives he may go; the story is as true as sad.
-
-XI. But on the other hand, it is not for nought that the disciples
-of Jesus deny themselves; and indeed, Christ himself had the eternal
-joy in his eye: "For the joy that was set before him," says the
-author to the Hebrews, "he endured the cross;" (Heb. xii. 2;) that
-is, he denied himself, and bore the reproaches and death of the
-wicked; and despised the shame, to wit, the dishonour and derision
-of the world. It made him not afraid nor shrink, he contemned it;
-and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. And to their
-encouragement, and great consolation, when Peter asked him, what
-they should have that had forsaken all to follow him, he answered
-them, "Verily I say unto you, that ye, which have followed me in
-the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of
-his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
-twelve tribes of Israel," (Matt. xix. 27-29,) that were then in an
-apostacy from the life and power of godliness. This was the lot of
-his disciples; the more immediate companions of his tribulations,
-and first messengers of his kingdom. But the next that follows is
-to all: and "every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or
-sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for
-my name's sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and shall inherit
-everlasting life." It was this recompense of reward, this eternal
-crown of righteousness, that in every age has raised, in the souls
-of the just, a holy neglect, yea, contempt of the world. To this is
-owing the constancy of the martyrs, as to their blood, the triumph
-of the Truth.
-
-XII. Nor is this a new doctrine; it is as old as Abraham. (Gen.
-xii.) In several most remarkable instances, his life was made up
-of self-denial. First, in quitting his own land, where we may well
-suppose him settled in the midst of plenty, at least sufficiency:
-and why? Because God called him. Indeed this should be reason
-enough, but such is the world's degeneracy that in fact it is not:
-and the same act, upon the same inducement, in any now, though
-praised in Abraham, would be derided. So apt are people not to
-understand what they commend; nay, to despise those actions, when
-they meet them in the people of their own times, which they pretend
-to admire in their ancestors.
-
-XIII. But he obeyed: the consequence was, that God gave him a mighty
-land. This was the first reward of his obedience. The next was, a
-son in his old age; and which greatened the blessing, after it had
-been, in nature, past the time of his wife's bearing of children.
-(Gen. xxii. 2.) Yet God called for his darling, their only child,
-the joy of their age, the son of a miracle, and he upon whom the
-fulfilling of the promise made to Abraham did depend. For this
-son, I say, God called: a mighty trial: that which, one would have
-thought, might very well have overturned his faith, and stumbled
-his integrity; at least have put him upon this dispute in himself.
-This command is unreasonable and cruel; it is the tempter's, it
-cannot be God's. For, is it to be thought that God gave me a son to
-make a sacrifice of him? that the father should be butcher of his
-only child? Again, that he should require me to offer up the son of
-his own promise, by whom his covenant is to be performed; this is
-incredible. I say, thus Abraham might naturally enough have argued,
-to withstand the voice of God, and indulge his great affections
-to his beloved Isaac. But good old Abraham, that knew the voice
-that had promised him a son, had not forgotten to know it, when it
-required him back again; he disputes not, though it looked strange,
-and perhaps with some surprise and horror, as a man. He had learned
-to believe that God, that gave him a child by a miracle, could work
-another to preserve or restore him. His affections could not balance
-his duty, much less overcome his faith; for he received him in a way
-that would let him doubt of nothing that God had promised to him.
-
-To the voice of this Almightiness he bows, builds an altar, binds
-his only son upon it, kindles the fire, and stretches forth his hand
-to take the knife: but the angel stopped the stroke: Hold, Abraham,
-thy integrity is proved. What followed? a ram served, and Isaac was
-his again. This shows how little serves, where all is resigned,
-and how mean a sacrifice contents the Almighty, where the heart is
-approved. So that it is not the sacrifice that recommends the heart,
-but the heart that gives the sacrifice acceptance.
-
-God often touches our best comforts, and calls for that which we
-most love, and are least willing to part with. Not that he always
-takes it utterly away, but to prove the soul's integrity, to caution
-us from excesses, and that we may remember God, the author of those
-blessings we possess, and live loose to them. I speak my experience;
-the way to keep our enjoyments is to resign them; and though that
-be hard, it is sweet to see them returned, as Isaac was to his
-father Abraham, with more love and blessing than before. O stupid
-world! O worldly Christians; not only strangers, but enemies to this
-excellent faith! and whilst so, the rewards of it you can never know.
-
-XIV. But Job presses hard upon Abraham: his self-denial also was
-very signal. For when the messengers of his afflictions came thick
-upon him, one doleful story after another, till he was left almost
-as naked as when he was born; the first thing he did, he fell to
-the ground, and worshipped that power, and kissed that hand that
-stripped him; so far from murmuring, that he concludes his losses
-of estate and children with these words: "Naked came I out of my
-mother's womb, and naked shall I return: the Lord gave and the Lord
-hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job, i. 21.) O
-the deep faith, patience, and contentment of this excellent man!
-one would have thought this repeated news of ruin had been enough
-to have overset his confidence in God; but it did not; that stayed
-him. But indeed he tells us why; his Redeemer lived; "I know," says
-he, "that my Redeemer lives." (Job, xix. 25, 26.) And it appeared
-he did; for he had redeemed him from the world: his heart was not
-in his worldly comforts: his hope lived above the joys of time and
-troubles of mortality; not tempted by the one, nor shaken by the
-other; but firmly believed, that when after his skin worms should
-have consumed his body, yet with his eyes he should see his God.
-Thus was the heart of Job both submitted to and comforted in the
-will of God.
-
-XV. Moses is the next great example in sacred story for remarkable
-self-denial, before the times of Christ's appearance in the
-flesh. He had been saved when an infant, by an extraordinary
-providence, and it seems, by what followed, for an extraordinary
-service: Pharaoh's daughter, whose compassion was the means of his
-preservation, when the king decreed the slaughter of the Hebrew
-males, (Exod. ii. 1, 10,) took him for her son, and gave him the
-education of her father's court. His own graceful presence and
-extraordinary abilities, joined with her love for him, and interest
-in her father to promote him, must have rendered him, if not capable
-of succession, at least of being chief minister of affairs under
-that wealthy and powerful prince. For Egypt was then what Athens and
-Rome were after, the most famous for learning, art, and glory.
-
-XVI. But Moses, ordained for other work and guided by a higher
-principle, no sooner came to years of discretion, than the impiety
-of Egypt, and the oppressions of his brethren there, grew a burden
-too heavy for him to bear. And though so wise and good a man could
-not want those generous and grateful acknowledgments, that became
-the kindness of the king's daughter to him; yet he had also seen
-that God that was invisible; (Heb. xi. 24-27;) and did not dare to
-live in the ease and plenty of Pharaoh's house, whilst his poor
-brethren were required to make brick without straw. (Exod. v. 7, 16.)
-
-Thus the fear of the Almighty taking deep hold of his heart, he
-nobly refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and
-chose rather a life of affliction, with the most despised and
-oppressed Israelites, and to be the companion of their tribulations
-and jeopardies, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
-esteeming the reproaches of Christ, which he suffered for making
-that unworldly choice, greater riches than all the treasures of that
-kingdom.
-
-XVII. Nor was he so foolish as they thought him; he had reason on
-his side; for it is said, he had an eye to the recompense of reward,
-he did but refuse a lesser benefit for a greater. In this his wisdom
-transcended that of the Egyptians; for they made the present world
-their choice, as uncertain as the weather, and so lost that which
-has no end. Moses looked deeper, and weighed the enjoyments of this
-life in the scales of eternity, and found they made no weight there.
-He governed himself not by the immediate possession, but the nature
-and duration of the reward. His faith corrected his affections, and
-taught him to sacrifice the pleasure of self, to the hope he had of
-a future more excellent recompense.
-
-XVIII. Isaiah[1] was no inconsiderable instance of this blessed
-self-denial; who of a courtier became a prophet, and left the
-worldly interests of the one, for the faith, patience, and
-sufferings of the other. For his choice did not only lose him the
-favour of men, but their wickedness, enraged at his integrity to
-God, in his fervent and bold reproofs of them, made a martyr of him
-in the end, for they barbarously sawed him asunder in the reign of
-king Manasseh. Thus died that excellent man, and commonly called the
-Evangelical Prophet.
-
-  [1] Dorotheus in his Lives of the Prophets.
-
-XIX. I shall add, of many, one example more, and that is from
-the fidelity of Daniel; a holy and wise young man, who when his
-external advantages came in competition with his duty to Almighty
-God, relinquished them all; and instead of being solicitous how to
-secure himself, as one minding nothing less, he was, to the utmost
-hazard of himself, most careful how to preserve the honour of God,
-by his fidelity to his will. And though at the first it exposed him
-to ruin, yet, as an instance of great encouragement to all that like
-him will choose to keep a good conscience in an evil time, at last
-it advanced him greatly in the world; and the God of Daniel was made
-famous and terrible through his perseverance even in the eyes of
-heathen kings.
-
-XX. What shall I say of all the rest, who counted nothing dear that
-they might do the will of God, abandoned their worldly comforts,
-and exposed their ease and safety, as often as the heavenly vision
-called them,[2] to the wrath and malice of degenerate princes and an
-apostate church? More especially Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Micah, who
-after they had denied themselves, in obedience to the divine voice,
-sealed their testimony with their blood.
-
-  [2] Dorotheus in his Lives of the Prophets.
-
-Thus was self-denial the practice and glory of the ancients, that
-were predecessors to the coming of Christ in the flesh: and shall
-we hope to go to heaven without it now, when our Saviour himself is
-become the most excellent example of it? and that not as some would
-fain have it, viz. for us, that we need not; (1 Peter, ii. 21;) but
-for us, that we might deny ourselves, and so be the true followers
-of his blessed example.
-
-XXI. Whoever therefore thou art that wouldst do the will of
-God, but faintest in thy desires, from the opposition of worldly
-considerations, remember I tell thee, in the name of Christ, that
-he that prefers father or mother, sister or brother, wife or child,
-house or land, reputation, honour, office, liberty, or life, before
-the testimony of the light of Jesus, in his own conscience, shall be
-rejected of him in the solemn and general inquest upon the world,
-when all shall be judged, and receive according to the deeds done,
-not the profession made, in this life. It was the doctrine of Jesus,
-that if thy right hand offend thee, thou must cut it off; and if thy
-right eye offend thee, thou must pluck it out: (Matt. v. 29, 30:)
-that is, if the most dear, the most useful and tender comforts thou
-enjoyest, stand in thy soul's way, and interrupt thy obedience to
-the voice of God, and thy conformity to his holy will revealed in
-thy soul, thou art engaged, under the penalty of damnation, to part
-with them.
-
-XXII. The way of God is a way of faith, as dark to sense, as mortal
-to self. It is the children of obedience, who count, with holy Paul,
-all things dross and dung, that they may win Christ, and know and
-walk in this narrow way. Speculation will not do, nor can refined
-notions enter; the obedient only eat the good of this land. (Isaiah,
-i. 19.) They that do his will, says the blessed Jesus, shall know
-of my doctrine; (John, vii. 17;) them He will instruct. There is no
-room for instruction, where lawful self is lord, and not servant.
-For self cannot receive it; that which should is oppressed by self,
-fearful, and dare not. O! what will my father or mother say? How
-will my husband use me? or finally, what will the magistrate do
-with me? For though I have a most powerful persuasion, and clear
-conviction upon my soul, of this or that thing, yet considering how
-unmodish it is, what enemies it has, and how strange and singular I
-shall seem to them, I hope God will pity my weakness: if I sink, I
-am but flesh and blood; it may be hereafter He may better enable me;
-and there is time enough. Thus selfish, fearful man.
-
-But deliberating is ever worst; for the soul loses in parley: the
-manifestation brings power with it. Never did God convince people,
-but, upon submission, he empowered them. He requires nothing without
-giving ability to perform it: that were mocking, not saving men.
-It is enough for thee to do thy duty, that God shows thee thy
-duty; provided thou closest with that light and spirit by which he
-gives thee that knowledge. They that want power, are such as do
-not receive Christ in his convictions upon the soul, and such will
-always want it; but such as do, they receive power, like those of
-old, to become the children of God, through the pure obedience of
-faith.
-
-XXIII. Wherefore, let me beseech you, by the love and mercy of God,
-by the life and death of Christ, by the power of his Spirit, and
-the hope of immortality, that you, whose hearts are established in
-your temporal comforts, and so lovers of self, more than of these
-heavenly things, would let the time past suffice: that you would
-not think it enough to be clear of such impieties, as too many are
-found in, whilst your inordinate love of lawful things has defiled
-your enjoyment of them, and drawn your hearts from the fear, love,
-obedience, and self-denial of a true disciple of Jesus. Turn about
-then, and hearken to the still voice in thy conscience; it tells
-thee thy sins, and thy misery in them; it gives a lively discovery
-of the very vanity of the world, and opens to the soul some prospect
-of eternity, and the comforts of the just that are at rest. If thou
-adhere to this, it will divorce thee from sin and self: thou wilt
-soon find, that the power of its charms exceeds that of wealth,
-honour, and beauty of the world, and finally will give thee that
-tranquillity which the storms of time can never shipwreck nor
-disorder. Here all thy enjoyments are blest, though small, yet
-great by that presence that is within them.
-
-Even in this world the righteous have the better of it, for they use
-the world without rebuke, because they do not abuse it. They see and
-bless the hand that feeds, and clothes, and preserves them. And as
-by beholding him in all his works, they do not adore them, but him;
-so the sweetness of his blessings that gives them, is an advantage
-such have upon those that see him not. Besides, in their increase,
-they are not lifted up, nor in their adversities are they cast down:
-and why? Because they are moderated in the one, and comforted in the
-other, by his divine presence.
-
-In short, heaven is the throne, and the earth but the footstool of
-that man that hath self under foot. And those that know that station
-will not easily be moved; such learn to number their days, that they
-may not be surprised with their dissolution; and to redeem their
-time, because their days are evil; (Ephes. v. 16;) remembering they
-are stewards, and must deliver up their accounts to an impartial
-judge. Therefore not to self but to him they live, and in him die,
-and are blessed with them that die in the Lord. And thus I conclude
-my discourse on the right use of lawful self.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-     1. Of unlawful self; it is two-fold: 1st, in religion;
-     2nd, in morality.--2. Of those that are most formal,
-     superstitious, and pompous in worship.--3. God's rebuke of
-     carnal apprehensions.--4. Christ drew off his disciples from
-     the Jewish exterior worship, and instituted a more spiritual
-     one.--5. Stephen is full and plain in this matter.--6. Paul
-     refers the temple of God twice to man.--7. Of the cross of
-     these worldly worshippers.--8. Flesh and blood make their
-     cross, therefore cannot be crucified by it.--9. They are yokes
-     without restraint.--10. Of the gaudiness of their cross,
-     and their respect to it.--11. A recluse life no true gospel
-     abnegation.--12. Comparison between Christ's self-denial and
-     theirs: his leads to purity in the world, theirs to voluntary
-     imprisonment, that they might not be tempted of the world.
-     The mischief which that example, if followed, would do to the
-     world. It destroys useful society and honest labour. A lazy life
-     the usual refuge of idleness, poverty, and guilty age.--13.
-     Of Christ's cross in this case. The impossibility that such
-     an external application can remove an internal cause.--14. An
-     exhortation to the men of this belief, not to deceive themselves.
-
-
-I. I am now come to unlawful self, which, more or less, is the
-immediate concern of much the greater part of mankind. This unlawful
-self is two-fold. First, that which relates to religious worship:
-secondly, that which concerns moral and civil conversation in the
-world. And they are both of infinite consequence to be considered
-by us. In which I shall be as brief as I may, with ease to my
-conscience, and no injury to the matter.
-
-II. That unlawful self in religion that ought to be mortified by
-the cross of Christ, is man's invention and performance of worship
-to God as divine, which is not so, either in its institution or
-performance. In this great error those people have the van of all
-that attribute to themselves the name of Christians, that are
-most exterior, pompous, and superstitious in their worship; for
-they do not only miss exceedingly by a spiritual unpreparedness,
-in the way of their performing worship to God Almighty, who is
-an Eternal Spirit; but the worship itself is composed of what is
-utterly inconsistent with the very form and practice of Christ's
-doctrine, and the apostolical example. For whereas that was plain
-and spiritual, this is gaudy and worldly: Christ's most inward
-and mental, theirs most outward and corporeal: that suited to the
-nature of God, who is a Spirit, this accommodated to the most
-carnal part. So that instead of excluding flesh and blood, behold
-a worship calculated to gratify them: as if the business were not
-to present God with a worship to please Him, but to make one to
-please themselves. A worship dressed with such stately buildings
-and imagery, rich furnitures and garments, rare voices and music,
-costly lamps, wax candles, and perfumes; and all acted with that
-most pleasing variety to the external senses that art can invent or
-cost procure; as if the world were to turn Jew or Egyptian again;
-or that God was an old man indeed, and Christ a little boy, to be
-treated with a kind of religious mask: for so they picture him in
-their temples, and too many in their minds. And the truth is, such
-a worship may very well suit such an idea of God: for when men can
-think Him such a one as themselves, it is not to be wondered if they
-address Him in a way that would be the most pleasing from others to
-themselves.
-
-III. But what said the Almighty to such a sensual people of old,
-much upon the like occasion? "Thou thoughtest I was such an one as
-thyself, but I will reprove thee, and set thy sins in order before
-thee. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in
-pieces and there be none to deliver." But, "to him that ordereth
-his conversation aright, will I show the salvation of God." (Psalm
-l. 21, 22, 23.) This is the worship acceptable to him, "to do
-justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God." (Mic. vi. 8.)
-For He that searcheth the heart, and tries the reins of man, and
-sets his sins in order before him, who is the God of the spirits
-of all flesh, looks not to the external fabric, but internal frame
-of the soul, and inclination of the heart. Nor is it to be soberly
-thought, that He who is clothed with divine honour and majesty;
-who covers himself with light as with a garment; who stretches out
-the heavens like a curtain; who layeth the beams of his chambers
-in the deep; who maketh the clouds his chariot, and walks upon the
-wings of the wind: who maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a
-flaming fire: who laid the foundation of the earth, that it should
-not be moved for ever; can be adequately worshipped by those human
-inventions, the refuge of an apostate people from the primitive
-power of religion and spirituality of Christian worship.
-
-IV. Christ drew off his disciples from the glory and worship of
-the outward temple, and instituted a more inward and spiritual
-worship, in which He instructed his followers, "Ye shall neither in
-this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem," says Christ to the Samaritan
-woman, "worship the Father; God is a Spirit, and they that worship
-Him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth." (John, iv. 21.) As
-if he had said, for the sake of the weakness of the people, God
-condescended in old time to limit himself to an outward time, place,
-temple, and service, in and by which he would be worshipped; but
-this was during men's ignorance of his omnipresence, and that they
-considered not what God is, nor where he is; but I am come to reveal
-him to as many as receive me; and I tell you that God is a spirit,
-and will be worshipped in Spirit and in truth. People must be
-acquainted with him as a spirit, consider and worship him as such.
-It is not that bodily worship, or these ceremonial services, in use
-among you now, will serve, or give acceptance with this God that
-is a Spirit: no, you must obey his Spirit that strives with you,
-to gather you out of the evil of the world, that by bowing to the
-instructions and commands of his Spirit in your own souls, you may
-know what it is to worship him as a Spirit; then you will understand
-that it is not going to this mountain, nor to Jerusalem, but to do
-the will of God, to keep his commandments, and commune with thine
-own heart, and sin not; take up thy cross, meditate in his holy law,
-and follow the example of Him whom the Father hath sent.
-
-V. Wherefore Stephen, that bold and constant martyr of Jesus, told
-the Jews, when a prisoner at the bar for disputing about the end
-of their beloved temple, and its services, but falsely accused of
-blasphemy; "Solomon," said Stephen, "built God an house; howbeit
-God dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
-Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what house will
-ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath
-not my hand made all these things?" (Acts, vii. 47-50.) Behold
-a total overthrow to all worldly temples, and their ceremonial
-appendages. The martyr follows his blow upon those apostate
-Jews, who were of those times, the pompous, ceremonious, worldly
-worshippers: "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,
-ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as did your fathers, so do
-ye." (Acts, vii. 51.) As if He had told them, no matter for your
-outward temples, rites, and shadowy services, your pretensions to
-succession in nature from Abraham; and by religion from Moses. You
-are resisters of the Spirit, gainsayers of its instructions: you
-will not bow to his counsel, nor are your hearts right towards God:
-you are the successors of your fathers' iniquity; and though verbal
-admirers, yet none of the successors of the prophets in faith and
-life.
-
-But the prophet Isaiah carries it a little further than is cited
-by Stephen. For after having declared what is not God's house, the
-place where his honour dwells, immediately follow these words: "But
-to this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite
-spirit, and trembleth at my word." (Isaiah, lxvi. 2.) Behold, O
-carnal and superstitious man, the true worshipper, and the place of
-God's rest! This is the house and temple of Him whom the heaven of
-heavens cannot contain; a house self cannot build, nor the art or
-power of man prepare or consecrate.
-
-VI. Paul, that great apostle of the Gentiles, twice expressly
-refers the word temple to man: once in his epistle to the church of
-Corinth; "Know ye not," says he, "that your body is the temple of
-the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God?" &c. (1 Cor.
-vi. 19,) and not the building of man's hand and heart. Again, he
-tells the same people, in his second epistle, "For ye are the temple
-of the living God, as God hath said;" (2 Cor. vi. 16;) and then
-cites God's words by the prophet, "I will dwell in them, and walk in
-them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people." This is the
-evangelical temple, the Christian church, whose ornaments are not
-the embroideries and furnitures of worldly art and wealth, but the
-graces of the Spirit; meekness, love, faith, patience, self-denial,
-and charity. Here it is, that the eternal wisdom, that was with
-God from everlasting, before the hills were brought forth, or the
-mountains laid, chooses to dwell; "rejoicing," says Wisdom, "in the
-habitable part of the earth, and my delights were with the sons of
-men:" (Prov. viii. 22, 23, 25, 31;) not in houses built of wood
-and stone. This living house is more glorious than Solomon's dead
-house; and of which his was but a figure, as he, the Builder, was of
-Christ, who builds up a holy temple to God. It was promised of old,
-that the glory of the latter house should transcend the glory of the
-former; (Hag. ii. 9;) which may be applied to this: not one outward
-temple or house to excel another in outward lustre; for where is
-the benefit of that? But the divine glory, the beauty of holiness
-in the gospel house or church, made up of renewed believers, should
-exceed the outward glory of Solomon's temple, which in comparison of
-the latter days, was but flesh to spirit, fading resemblance to the
-eternal substance.
-
-But for all this, Christians have meeting-places, yet not in Jewish
-or Heathen state, but plain, void of pomp or ceremony, suiting the
-simplicity of their blessed life and doctrine. For God's presence
-is not with the house, but with them that are in it, who are the
-gospel church, and not the house. O! that such as call themselves
-Christians, knew but a real sanctity in themselves, by the washing
-of God's regenerating grace, instead of that imaginary sanctity
-ascribed to places; they would then know what the church is, and
-where, in these evangelical days, is the place of God's appearance.
-This made the prophet David say, "The king's daughter is all
-glorious within; her clothing is of wrought gold." What is the
-glory that is within the true church, and that gold that makes up
-that inward glory? Tell me, O superstitious man! is it thy stately
-temples, altars, tables, carpets, tapestries; thy vestments, organs,
-voices, candles, lamps, censers, plate, and jewels, with the
-like furniture of thy worldly temples? No such matter; they bear
-no proportion with the divine adornment of the King of Heaven's
-daughter, the blessed and redeemed church of Christ. Miserable
-apostacy that it is! and a wretched supplement in the loss and
-absence of the apostolic life, the spiritual glory of the primitive
-church.
-
-VII. But yet some of these admirers of external pomp and glory
-in worship would be thought lovers of the cross, and to that end
-have made to themselves many. But alas! what hopes can there be
-of reconciling that to Christianity, that the nearer it comes to
-its resemblance, the further off it is in reality? for their very
-cross and self-denial are most unlawful self: and whilst they fancy
-to worship God thereby, they most dangerously err from the true
-cross of Christ, and that holy abnegation that was of his blessed
-appointment. It is true, they have got a cross, but it seems to be
-in the room of the true one: and so mannerly, that it will do as
-they will have it that wear it; for instead of mortifying their
-wills by it, they made it, and use it according to them. So that the
-cross is become their ensign, that do nothing but what they list.
-Yet by that they would be thought his disciples, who never did his
-own will, but the will of his heavenly Father.
-
-VIII. This is such a cross as flesh and blood can carry, for flesh
-and blood invented it; therefore not the cross of Christ, that is
-to crucify flesh and blood. Thousands of them have no more virtue
-than a chip: poor empty shadows, not so much as images of the true
-one. Some carry them for charms about them, but never repel one evil
-with them. They sin with them upon their backs; and though they put
-them in their bosoms, their beloved lusts lie there too, without the
-least disquiet. They are as dumb as Elijah's mock gods; (1 Kings,
-xviii. 27;) no life nor power in them: and how should they, whose
-matter is earthly, and whose figure and workmanship are but the
-invention and labour of worldly artists? Is it possible that such
-crosses should mend their makers? surely not.
-
-IX. These are yokes without restraint, and crosses that never
-contradict: a whole cart-load of them would leave a man as
-unmortified as they find him. Men may sooner knock their brains out
-with them than their sins; and that, I fear, too many of them know
-in their very consciences that use them, indeed adore them: and,
-which can only happen to the false cross, are proud of them too,
-since the true one leaves no pride, where it is truly borne.
-
-X. For as their religion, so their cross is very gaudy and
-triumphant: but in what? In precious metals and gems, the spoil of
-superstition upon the people's pockets. These crosses are made of
-earthly treasure, instead of teaching their hearts that wear them to
-deny it: and like men, they are respected by their finery. A rich
-cross shall have many gazers and admirers: the mean in this, as
-other things, are more neglected. I could appeal to themselves of
-this great vanity and superstition. O! how very short is this of the
-blessed cross of Jesus, that takes away the sins of the world!
-
-XI. Nor is a recluse life, the boasted righteousness of some,
-much more commendable, or one whit nearer to the nature of the
-true cross: for if it be not unlawful as other things are, it is
-unnatural, which true religion teaches not. The Christian convent
-and monastery are within, where the soul is encloistered from sin.
-And this religious house the true followers of Christ carry about
-with them, who exempt not themselves from the conversation of the
-world, though they keep themselves from the evil of the world in
-their conversation. That is a lazy, rusty, unprofitable self-denial,
-burdensome to others to feed their idleness; religious bedlams,
-where people are kept lest they should do mischief abroad; patience
-per force; self-denial against their will, rather ignorant than
-virtuous: and out of the way of temptation, than content in it. No
-thanks if they commit not what they are not tempted to commit. What
-the eye views not, the heart craves not, as well as rues not.
-
-XII. The cross of Christ is of another nature; it truly overcomes
-the world, and leads a life of purity in the face of its
-allurements; they that bear it are not thus chained up, for fear
-they should bite; nor locked up, lest they should be stolen away:
-no, they receive power from Christ their captain, to resist the
-evil, and do that which is good in the sight of God; to despise the
-world, and love its reproach above its praise; and not only not
-to offend others, but love those that offend them: though not for
-offending them. What a world should we have if every body, for fear
-of transgressing, should mew himself up within four walls! No such
-matter; the perfection of the Christian life extends to every honest
-labour or traffic used among men. This severity is not the effect
-of Christ's free spirit, but a voluntary, fleshly humility: mere
-trammels of their own making and putting on, without prescription
-or reason. In all which it is plain they are their own lawgivers,
-and set their own rule, mulct, and ransom: a constrained harshness,
-out of joint to the rest of the creation; for society is one great
-end of it, and not to be destroyed for fear of evil; but sin that
-spoils it, banished by a steady reproof, and a conspicuous example
-of tried virtue. True godliness does not turn men out of the world,
-but enables them to live better in it, and excites their endeavours
-to mend it; not to hide their candle under a bushel, but to set it
-upon a table in a candlestick. Besides, it is a selfish invention;
-and that can never be the way of taking up the cross, which the true
-cross is therefore taken up to subject. But again, this humour runs
-away by itself, and leaves the world behind to be lost; Christians
-should keep the helm, and guide the vessel to its port; not meanly
-steal out at the stern of the world, and leave those that are in it
-without a pilot, to be driven by the fury of evil times, upon the
-rock or sand of ruin. In fine, this sort of life, if taken up by
-young people, is commonly to cover idleness, or to pay portions,
-to save the lazy from the pain of punishment, or quality from the
-disgrace of poverty; one will not work, and the other scorns it;
-if aged, a long life of guilt sometimes flies to superstition for
-a refuge, and after having had its own will in other things, would
-finish it in a wilful religion to make God amends.
-
-XIII. But taking up the cross of Jesus is a more interior exercise:
-it is the circumspection and discipline of the soul in conformity
-to the divine mind therein revealed. Does not the body follow the
-soul, not the soul the body? Do not such consider, that no outward
-cell can shut up the soul from lust, the mind from an infinity of
-unrighteous imaginations? The thoughts of man's heart are evil, and
-that continually. Evil comes from within, and not from without: how
-then can an external application remove an internal cause; or a
-restraint upon the body, work a confinement of the mind? which is
-much less than without doors, for where there is least of action,
-there is most time to think; and if those thoughts are not guided
-by a higher principle, convents are more mischievous to the world
-than exchanges. And yet retirement is both an excellent and needful
-thing; crowds and throngs were not much frequented by the ancient
-holy pilgrims.
-
-XIV. But then examine, O man, thy foundation, what it is, and who
-placed thee there; lest in the end it should appear thou hast put
-an eternal cheat upon thy own soul. I must confess I am jealous of
-the salvation of my own kind, having found mercy with my heavenly
-Father. I would have none to deceive themselves to perdition,
-especially about religion, where people are most apt to take all
-for granted, and lose infinitely by their own flatteries and
-neglect. The inward, steady righteousness of Jesus is another thing
-than all the contrived devotion of poor superstitious man; and to
-stand approved in the sight of God, excels that bodily exercise in
-religion, resulting from the invention of men. And the soul that is
-awakened and preserved by his holy power and spirit, lives to Him in
-the way of his own institution, and worships Him in his own spirit,
-that is, in the holy sense, life, and leadings of it: which indeed
-is the evangelical worship. Not that I would be thought to slight a
-true retirement: for I do not only acknowledge but admire solitude.
-Christ himself was an example of it: He loved and chose to frequent
-mountains, gardens, and sea-sides. It is requisite to the growth of
-piety, and I reverence the virtue that seeks and uses it; wishing
-there were more of it in the world: but then it should be free, not
-constrained. What benefit to the mind, to have it for a punishment,
-and not for a pleasure? Nay, I have long thought it an error among
-all sorts, that use not monastic lives, that they have no retreats
-for the afflicted, the tempted, the solitary, and the devout, where
-they might undisturbedly wait upon God, pass through their religious
-exercises, and, being thereby strengthened, may, with more power
-over their own spirits, enter into the business of the world again:
-though the less the better, to be sure. For divine pleasures are
-found in a free solitude.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-     1. But men of more refined belief and practice are yet concerned
-     in this unlawful self about religion.--2. It is the rise of
-     the performance of worship God regards.--3. True worship is
-     only from a heart prepared by God's Spirit.--4. The soul of man
-     is dead without the divine breath of life, and so not capable
-     of worshipping the living God.--5. We are not to study what
-     to pray for. How Christians should pray. The aid they have
-     from God.--6. The way of obtaining this preparation: it is by
-     waiting, as David and others did of old, in holy silence, that
-     their wants and supplies are best seen.--7. The whole and the
-     full think they need not this waiting, and so use it not; but
-     the poor in spirit are of another mind, wherefore the Lord
-     hears, and fills them with his good things.--8. If there were
-     not this preparation, the Jewish times would have been more holy
-     and spiritual than the gospel; for even then it was required;
-     much more now.--9. As sin, so formality, cannot worship God:
-     thus David, Isaiah, &c.--10. God's own forms and institutions
-     hateful to Him, unless his own Spirit use them; much more those
-     of man's contriving.--11. God's children ever met God in his
-     way, not their own; and in his way they always found help and
-     comfort. In Jeremiah's time it was the same; his goodness was
-     manifested to his children that waited truly upon him: it was an
-     inward sense and enjoyment of him they thirsted after. Christ
-     charged his disciples also to wait for the Spirit.--12. This
-     doctrine of waiting further opened, and ended with an allusion
-     to the pool of Bethesda; a lively figure of inward waiting and
-     its blessed effects.--13. Four things necessary to worship;
-     the sanctification of the worshipper, and the consecration
-     of the offering, and the thing to be prayed for, and lastly,
-     faith to pray in: and all must be right, that is, of God's
-     giving.--14. The great power of faith in prayer; witness the
-     importunate woman. The wicked and formal ask, and receive not;
-     the reason why. But Jacob and his true offspring, the followers
-     of his faith, prevail.--15. This shows why Christ upbraided
-     his disciples with their little faith. The necessity of faith.
-     Christ works no good on men without it.--16. This faith is
-     not only possible now but necessary.--17. What it is, further
-     unfolded.--18. Who the heirs of this faith are; and what were
-     the noble works of it in the former ages of the just.
-
-
-I. But there be others of a more refined speculation, and reformed
-practice, who dare not use, and less adore, a piece of wood or
-stone, an image of silver and gold; nor yet allow of that Jewish, or
-rather Pagan pomp in worship, practised by others, as if Christ's
-worship were of this world, though his kingdom be of the other,
-but are doctrinally averse to such superstition, and yet refrain
-not to bow to their own religious duties, and esteem their formal
-performance of several parts of worship that go against the grain of
-their fleshly ease, and a preciseness therein, no small cross unto
-them; and that if they abstain from gross and scandalous sins, or if
-the act be not committed, though the thoughts of it are embraced,
-and that it has a full career in the mind, they hold themselves safe
-enough within the pale of discipleship and walls of Christianity.
-But this also is too mean a character of the discipline of Christ's
-cross: and those that flatter themselves with such a sort of taking
-it up, will in the end be deceived with a sandy foundation, and a
-midnight cry. For said Christ, "But I say unto you, that every idle
-word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the
-day of judgment." (Matt. xii. 36.)
-
-II. For first, it is not performing duties of religion, but the
-rise of the performance that God looks at. Men may, and some do,
-cross their own wills in their own wills: voluntary omission and
-commission: "Who has required this at your hands?" (Isa. i. 12,)
-said the Lord of old to the Jews, when they seemed industrious to
-have served him; but it was in a way of their own contriving or
-inventing, and in their own time and will; not with the soul truly
-touched and prepared by the divine power of God, but bodily worship
-only: that, the apostle tells us, profits little. Not keeping to the
-manner of taking up the cross in worship as well as other things,
-has been a great cause of the troublesome superstition that is yet
-in the world. For men have no more brought their worship to the
-test, than their sins: nay less; for they have ignorantly thought
-the one a sort of excuse for the other; and not that their religious
-performances should need a cross, or an apology.
-
-III. But true worship can only come from a heart prepared by the
-Lord. (Prov. xvi. 1; Rom viii. 14.) This preparation is by the
-sanctification of the Spirit; by which, if God's children are led
-in the general course of their lives, as Paul teaches, much more in
-their worship to their Creator and Redeemer. And whatever prayer be
-made, or doctrine be uttered, and not from the preparation of the
-Holy Spirit, it is not acceptable with God: nor can it be the true
-evangelical worship, which is in spirit and truth; that is, by the
-preparation and aid of the Spirit. For what is a heap of the most
-pathetical words to God Almighty; or the dedication of any place
-or time to him? He is a Spirit, to whom words, places, and times,
-strictly considered, are improper or inadequate. And though they be
-the instruments of public worship, they are but bodily and visible,
-and cannot carry our requests any further, much less recommend them
-to the invisible God; by no means; they are for the sake of the
-congregation: it is the language of the soul God hears, nor can that
-speak but by the Spirit, or groan aright to Almighty God without the
-assistance of it.
-
-IV. The soul of man, however lively in other things, is dead to God,
-till He breathe the spirit of life into it: it cannot live to Him,
-much less worship Him, without it. Thus God tells us, by Ezekiel,
-when in a vision of the restoration of mankind, in the person of
-Israel, an usual way of speaking among the prophets, and as often
-mistaken, "I will open your graves," saith the Lord, "and put my
-Spirit in you, and you shall live." (Ezek. xxxvii. 12-14.) So,
-though Christ taught his disciples to pray, they were, in some sort,
-disciples before he taught them; not worldly men, whose prayers are
-an abomination to God. And his teaching them is not an argument that
-every body must say that prayer, whether he can say it with the same
-heart, and under the same qualifications, as his poor disciples
-or followers did, or not; as is now too superstitiously and
-presumptuously practised; but rather as they then, so we now, are
-not to pray our own prayers, but his: that is, such as He enables us
-to make, as He enabled them then.
-
-V. For if we are not to take thought what we shall say when we come
-before worldly princes, because it shall then be given us; and that
-"it is not we that speak, but the Spirit of our heavenly Father
-that speaketh in us;" (Matt. x. 19, 20;) much less can our ability
-be needed, or ought we to study to ourselves forms of speech in our
-approaches to the great Prince of princes, King of kings, and Lord
-of lords. For be it his greatness, we ought not by Christ's command;
-be it our relation to him as children, we need not; he will help us,
-he is our Father; that is, if he be so indeed. Thus not only the
-mouth of the body but of the soul is shut, till God opens it; and
-then he loves to hear the language of it. In which the body ought
-never to go before the soul: his ear is open to such requests, and
-his Spirit strongly intercedes for those that offer them.
-
-VI. But it may be asked, how shall this preparation be obtained?
-
-I answer: By waiting patiently, yet watchfully and intently upon
-God: "Lord," says the Psalmist, "thou hast heard the desire of the
-humble; thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear
-to hear:" (Psalm x. 17:) and, says wisdom, "The preparation of the
-heart in man is from the Lord." (Prov. xvi. 1.) Here it is thou
-must not think thy own thoughts, nor speak thy own words, which
-indeed is the silence of the holy cross, but be sequestered from
-all the confused imaginations that are apt to throng and press upon
-the mind in those holy retirements. It is not for thee to think to
-overcome the Almighty by the most composed matter, cast into the
-aptest phrase; no, no; one groan, one sigh, from a wounded soul, a
-heart touched with true remorse, a sincere and godly sorrow, which
-is the work of God's Spirit, excels and prevails with God. Wherefore
-stand still in thy mind, wait to feel something that is divine, to
-prepare and dispose thee to worship God truly and acceptably. And
-thus taking up the cross, and shutting the doors and windows of the
-soul against everything that would interrupt this attendance upon
-God, how pleasant soever the object be in itself, how lawful or
-needful at another season, the power of the Almighty will break in,
-his Spirit will work and prepare the heart, that it may offer up
-an acceptable sacrifice. It is he that discovers and presses wants
-upon the soul; and when it cries, it is he alone that supplies them.
-Petitions, not springing from such a sense and preparation, are
-formal and fictitious: they are not true; for men pray in their own
-blind desires, and not in the will of God; and his ear is stopped to
-them: "but for the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the
-needy," God hath said, "I will arise;" (Psalm xii. 5;) that is, the
-poor in spirit, the needy soul, those that want his assistance, who
-are ready to be overwhelmed, that feel a need, and cry aloud for a
-deliverer, and that have none on earth to help: none in heaven but
-Him, nor in the earth in comparison of Him: "He will deliver," said
-David, "the needy when he cries, and the poor, and him that has
-no helper." (Psalm lxxii. 12, 14.) He shall redeem their soul from
-deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in His sight.
-"This poor man," says he, "cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved
-him out of all his troubles." (Psalm xxxiv. 6-8.) "The angel of the
-Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivers them,"
-and then invites all to come and taste how good the Lord is; "yea,
-He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great." (Psalm
-cxv. 13.)
-
-VII. But what is that to them that are not hungry? "They that be
-whole need not a physician:" (Matt. ix. 12;) the full have no need
-to sigh, nor the rich to cry for help. Those that are not sensible
-of their inward wants, that have not fears and terrors upon them,
-who feel no need of God's power to help them, nor of the light of
-his countenance to comfort them, what have such to do with prayer?
-their devotion is but at best, a serious mockery of the Almighty.
-They know not, they want not, they desire not what they pray for.
-They pray the will of God may be done, and do constantly their own:
-for though it be soon said, it is a most terrible thing to them.
-They ask for grace, and abuse that they have: they pray for the
-Spirit, but resist it in themselves, and scorn at it in others: they
-request mercies and goodness of God, and feel no real want of them.
-And in this inward insensibility, they are as unable to praise God
-for what they have, as to pray for what they have not. "They shall
-praise the Lord," says David, "that seek him: for he satisfieth
-the longing soul, and filleth the hungry with good things." (Psalm
-xxii. 26; cvii. 8.) This also he reserves for the poor and needy,
-and those that fear God. Let the spiritually poor and the needy
-praise thy name: ye that fear the Lord, praise him; and ye the seed
-of Jacob, glorify him. Jacob was a plain man, of an upright heart:
-and they that are so, are his seed. And though (with him) they may
-be as poor as worms in their own eyes, yet they receive power to
-wrestle with God, and prevail as he did.
-
-VIII. But without the preparation and consecration of this power, no
-man is fit to come before God; else it were matter of less holiness
-and reverence to worship God under the gospel, than it was in the
-times of the law, when all sacrifices were sprinkled before offered;
-the people consecrated that offered them, before they presented
-themselves before the Lord. (Numb. viii., xix.; 2 Chron. xxix. 36;
-xxx. 16, 17.) If the touching of a dead or unclean beast then made
-people unfit for temple or sacrifice, yea, society with the clean,
-till first sprinkled and sanctified, how can we think so meanly of
-the worship that is instituted by Christ in gospel times, as that
-it should admit of unprepared and unsanctified offerings? Or, allow
-that those, who either in thoughts, words, or deeds, do daily touch
-that which is morally unclean, can, without coming to the blood of
-Jesus, that sprinkles the conscience from dead works, acceptably
-worship the pure God: it is a downright contradiction to good sense:
-the unclean cannot acceptably worship that which is holy; the impure
-that which is perfect. There is a holy intercourse and communion
-betwixt Christ and his followers; but none at all betwixt Christ and
-Belial; between him and those that disobey his commandments, and
-live not the life of his blessed cross and self-denial. (2 Cor. vi.
-15, 16.)
-
-IX. But as sin, so formality cannot worship God; no, though
-the manner were of his own ordination. Which made the prophet,
-personating one in a great strait, cry out, "Wherewith shall I come
-before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come
-before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? will
-the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands
-of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression,
-the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath showed, thee,
-O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but
-to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
-(Micah, vi. 6-8.) The royal prophet, sensible of this, calls thus
-also upon God; "O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show
-forth thy praise." (Psalm li. 15-17.) He did not dare open his own
-lips, he knew that could not praise God; and why? "for thou desirest
-not sacrifice, else would I give it:" if my formal offerings
-would serve, thou shouldst not want them; thou delightest not in
-burnt-offerings. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a
-broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise:" and why?
-because this is God's work, the effect of his power; and his own
-works praise him. To the same purpose doth God himself speak by the
-mouth of Isaiah, in opposition to the formalities and lip-worship
-of the degenerate Jews: "Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my
-throne, and the earth is my footstool, where is the house that
-ye build to me? and where is the place of my rest? For all these
-things hath my hand made. But to this man will I look, even to him
-that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."
-(Isaiah, lxvi. 1, 2.) O behold the true worshipper! one of God's
-preparing, circumcised in heart and ear, that resists not the Holy
-Spirit, as those lofty professing Jews did. Was this so then, even
-in the time of the law, which was the dispensation of external and
-shadowy performances: and can we now expect acceptance without the
-preparation of the Spirit of the Lord in these gospel times, which
-are the proper times for the effusion of the Spirit? By no means:
-God is what he was; and none else are his true worshippers, but such
-as worship him in his own spirit: these he tenders as the apple
-of his eye; the rest do but mock him, and he despises them. Hear
-what follows to that people, for it is the state and portion of
-Christendom at this day; "He that killeth an ox, is as if he slew a
-man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he
-that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that
-burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen
-their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations."
-(Isaiah, lxvi. 3.) Let none say, we offer not these kinds of
-oblations, for that is not the matter; God was not offended with the
-offerings, but offerers. These were the legal forms of sacrifice
-by God appointed; but they not presenting them in that frame of
-spirit, and under that right disposition of soul that was required,
-God declares his abhorrence, and that with great aggravation; and
-elsewhere, by the same prophet, forbids them to bring any more vain
-oblations before him; "incense," saith God, "is an abomination to
-me: your sabbaths and calling of assemblies I cannot away with; it
-is iniquity, even the solemn meeting." And "when you spread forth
-your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; when you make many
-prayers, I will not hear you." (Isaiah, i. 13-18.) A most terrible
-renunciation of their worship; and why? Because their hearts were
-polluted; they loved not the Lord with their whole hearts, but
-broke his law, and rebelled against his Spirit, and did not that
-which was right in his sight. The cause is plain, by the amendment
-He requires; "Wash ye," says the Lord, "make you clean, put away
-the evil of your doings from before mine eyes: cease to do evil,
-learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the
-fatherless, plead for the widow." Upon these terms, and nothing
-short, He bids them come to Him, and tells them, that "though their
-sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; and though they be
-as crimson, they shall be white as wool."
-
-So true is that notable passage of the Psalmist, "Come and hear, all
-ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul:
-I cried to him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. If
-I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. But verily
-God hath heard me: he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
-Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy
-from me." (Psalm lxvi. 16, 20.)
-
-X. Much of this kind might be cited, to show the displeasure of God
-against even his own forms of worship, when performed without his
-own Spirit, and that necessary preparation of the heart in man,
-that nothing else can work or give: which above all other penmen of
-sacred writ, is most frequently and emphatically recommended to us
-by the example of the Psalmist, who ever and anon calling to mind
-his own great slips, and the cause of them, and the way by which
-he came to be accepted of God, and to obtain strength and comfort
-from him, reminds himself to wait upon God. "Lead me in thy truth,
-and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I
-wait all the day long." (Psalm xxv. 5.) His soul looked to God for
-salvation, to be delivered from the snares and evils of the world.
-This shows an inward exercise, and a spiritual attendance, that
-stood not in external forms, but in inward divine aid.
-
-And truly, David had great encouragement so to do; the goodness of
-God invited him to it and strengthened him in it. For says he, "I
-waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard
-my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the
-miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock." (Psalm xl. 1, 2.) That is,
-the Lord appeared inwardly to console David's soul, that waited for
-his help, and to deliver it from the temptations and afflictions
-that were ready to overwhelm it, and gave him security and peace.
-Therefore, he says, "The Lord hath established my goings;" that is,
-fixed his mind in righteousness. Before, every step he took bemired
-him, and he was scarcely able to go without falling: temptation
-on all hands; but he waited patiently upon God: his mind retired,
-watchful, and intent to his law and Spirit; and he felt the Lord
-to incline to him. His needy and sensible cry entered heaven, and
-prevailed; then came deliverance and rescue to David, in God's time,
-not David's strength to go through his exercises, and surmount all
-his troubles. For which he tells us, a new song was put into his
-mouth, even praises to his God. (Psalm xl. 3.) But it was of God's
-making and putting, and not his own.
-
-Another time, we have him crying thus: "As the hart panteth after
-the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul
-thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear
-before God?" This goes beyond formality, and can be tied to no
-lesson. But we may by this see, that true worship is an inward work;
-that the soul must be touched and raised in its heavenly desires by
-the heavenly Spirit, and that the true worship is in God's presence.
-When shall I come and appear? Not in the temple, nor with outward
-sacrifices, but before God in his presence. So that souls of true
-worshippers see God, make their appearance before him; and this
-they wait, they pant, they thirst for. O how is the greater part of
-Christendom degenerated from David's example! No wonder therefore
-that this good man tells us, "Truly my soul waiteth upon God;" and
-that he gives it in charge to his soul so to do; "O my soul, wait
-thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him." As if he had
-said, None else can prepare my heart, or supply my wants; so that my
-expectation is not from my own voluntary performance, or the bodily
-worship I can give him; they are of no value; they can neither help
-me, nor please him. But I wait upon him for strength and power to
-present myself so before him, as may be most pleasing to him; for
-he that prepares the sacrifice will certainly accept it. Wherefore
-in two verses he repeats it thrice; "I wait for the Lord--My soul
-doth wait--My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch
-for the morning." Yea, so intently, and with that unweariedness
-of soul, that he says in one place, "Mine eyes fail while I wait
-for my God." (Psalm lxix. 3.) He was not contented with so many
-prayers, such a set worship, or limited repetition: no; he leaves
-not till he finds the Lord, that is, the comforts of his presence:
-which brings the answer of love and peace to his soul. Nor was this
-his practice only, as a man more than ordinarily inspired; for he
-speaks of it as the way of worship, then amongst the true people
-of God, the spiritual Israel, and circumcision in heart, of that
-day: "Behold," says he, "as the eyes of servants look unto the hand
-of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her
-mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until he have mercy
-on us." (Psalm cxxiii. 2.) In another place, "Our soul waiteth for
-the Lord; he is our help and our shield." (Psalm xxxiii. 20.) "I
-will wait on thy name, for it is good before thy saints." (Psalm
-lii. 9.) It was in request with the truly godly in that day, and the
-way they came to enjoy God, and worship him acceptably. And from his
-own experience of the benefit of waiting upon God, and the saints'
-practice of those times, he recommends it to others: "Wait upon the
-Lord: be of good courage, and he will strengthen thy heart: wait,
-I say, on the Lord." (Psalm xxvii. 14.) That is, wait in faith and
-patience, and he will come to save thee. Again, "Rest in the Lord,
-and wait patiently upon him." That is, cast thyself upon him; be
-contented, and wait for him to help thee in thy wants; thou canst
-not think how near he is to help those that wait upon him: O try
-and have faith. Yet again, he bids us, "Wait upon the Lord, and keep
-his way." (Psalm xxxvii. 34.) Behold the reason why so few profit!
-they are out of his way; and such can never wait rightly upon him.
-Great reason had David for what he said, who had with so much
-comfort and advantage met the Lord in his blessed way.
-
-XI. The prophet Isaiah tells us, that though the chastisements of
-the Lord were sore upon the people for their backslidings, yet in
-the way of his judgments, in the way of his rebukes and displeasure,
-they waited for him, and the desire of their soul, that is the great
-point, was to his name, and the remembrance of him. (Isaiah, xxvi.
-8.) They were contented to be chid and chastised, for they had
-sinned; and the knowledge of him so was very desirable to them. But
-what! did he not come at last, and that in mercy too? Yes, he did,
-and they knew him when he came, a doctrine the brutish world knows
-not, "This is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us."
-(Isaiah, xxv. 9.) O blessed enjoyment! O precious confidence! here
-is a waiting in faith which prevailed. All worship not in faith is
-fruitless to the worshipper, as well as displeasing to God: and
-this faith is the gift of God, and the nature of it is to purify
-the heart, and give such as truly believe victory over the world.
-Well, but they go on: "We have waited for him; we will be glad,
-and rejoice in his salvation." The prophet adds, "Blessed are all
-they that wait upon God:" and why? for "they that wait upon the
-Lord shall renew their strength;" they shall never faint, never be
-weary: (Isaiah, xxx. 18; xl. 31:) the encouragement is great. O hear
-him once more: "For since the beginning of the world, men have not
-heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God!
-besides thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him."
-(Isaiah, lxiv. 4.) Behold the inward life and joy of the righteous,
-the true worshippers; those whose spirits bowed to the appearance
-of God's Spirit in them, leaving and forsaking all it appeared
-against, and embracing whatever it led them to. In Jeremiah's time,
-the true worshippers also waited upon God: (Jer. xiv. 22:) and he
-assures us, that "The Lord is good to them that wait for them to
-the soul that seeketh him." (Lam. iii. 25.) Hence it is, that the
-prophet Hosea exhorts the church then to turn and wait upon God.
-"Therefore turn thou to thy God; keep mercy and judgment, and wait
-on thy God continually." (Hos. xii. 6.) And Micah is very zealous
-and resolute in this good exercise: "I will look unto the Lord, I
-will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me." (Mic.
-vii. 7.) Thus did the children of the Spirit, that thirsted after an
-inward sense of him. The wicked cannot say so; nor they that pray,
-unless they wait. It is charged upon Israel in the wilderness, as
-the cause of their disobedience and ingratitude to God, that they
-waited not for his counsels. We may be sure it is our duty, and
-expected from us; for God requires it in Zephaniah: "Therefore wait
-upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I arise," &c. (Zeph.
-iii. 8.) O that all who profess the name of God, would wait so, and
-not offer to arise to worship without him. And they would feel his
-stirrings and arisings in them to help and prepare, and sanctify
-them. Christ expressly charged his disciples, "They should not stir
-from Jerusalem, but wait till they had received the promise of the
-Father, the baptism of the Holy Ghost," (Acts, i. 4, 8,) in order
-to their preparation for the preaching of the glorious gospel of
-Christ to the world. And though that were an extraordinary effusion
-for an extraordinary work, yet the degree does not change the kind;
-on the contrary, if so much waiting and preparation by the Spirit
-was requisite to fit them to preach to man; some, at least, may be
-needful to fit us to speak to God.
-
-XII. I will close this great Scripture doctrine of waiting,
-with that passage in John about the pool of Bethesda: "There is
-at Jerusalem, by the sheep-market, a pool, which is called in
-the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches; in these lay a
-great multitude of impotent folks, of blind, halt, and withered,
-waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a
-certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever
-then first after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was made
-whole of whatsoever disease he had." (John, v. 2-4.) A most exact
-representation of what is intended by all that has been said upon
-the subject of waiting. For as there was then an outward and legal,
-so there is now a gospel and spiritual Jerusalem, the church of God;
-consisting of the faithful. The pool in that old Jerusalem, in some
-sort, represented that fountain, which is now set open in this new
-Jerusalem. That pool was for those that were under infirmities of
-body; this fountain for all that are impotent in soul. There was
-an angel then that moved the water, to render it beneficial; it is
-God's angel now, the great angel of his presence, that blesseth this
-fountain with success. They that then went in before, and did not
-watch the angel, and take advantage of his motion, found no benefit
-of their stepping in: those that now wait not the moving of God's
-angel, but by the devotion of their own forming and timing, rush
-before God, as the horse into the battle, and hope for success,
-are sure to miscarry in their expectation. Therefore, as then they
-waited with all patience and attention upon the angel's motion,
-that wanted and desired to be cured; so do the true worshippers of
-God now, that need and pray for his presence, which is the life of
-their souls, as the sun is to the plants of the field. They have
-often tried the unprofitableness of their own work, and are now
-come to the sabbath indeed. They dare not put up a device of their
-own, or offer an unsanctified request, much less obtrude bodily
-worship, where the soul is really insensible or unprepared by the
-Lord. In the light of Jesus they ever wait to be prepared, retired,
-and recluse from all thoughts that cause the least distraction and
-discomposure in the mind, till they see the angel move, and till
-their beloved please to awake: nor dare they call him before his
-time. And they fear to make a devotion in his absence; for they
-know it is not only unprofitable, but reprovable: "Who has required
-this at your hands?" "He that believes, makes not haste." (Isaiah,
-i. 12; xxviii. 16.) They that worship with their own, can only do
-as the Israelites, turn their earrings into a molten image, and
-be cursed for their pains. Nor fared they better, "that gathered
-sticks of old, and kindled a fire, and compassed themselves about
-with the sparks that they had kindled;" (Isaiah, l. 11) for God told
-them, "they should lie down in sorrow." It should not only be of
-no advantage, and do them no good, but incur a judgment from him:
-sorrow and anguish of soul should be their portion. Alas! flesh
-and blood would fain pray, though it cannot wait; and be a saint,
-though it cannot abide to do or suffer the will of God; with the
-tongue it blesses God, and with the tongue it curses men, made in
-his similitude. It calls Jesus LORD, but not by the Holy Ghost; and
-often names the name of Jesus, yea, bows the knee to it too; but
-departs not from iniquity: this is abominable to God.
-
-XIII. In short, there are four things so necessary to worshipping
-God aright, and which put its performance beyond man's power, that
-there seems little more needed than the naming of them. The first
-is, the sanctification of the worshipper. Secondly, the consecration
-of the offering; which has been spoken to before somewhat largely.
-Thirdly, what to pray for; which no man knows that prays not by
-the aid of God's Spirit; and therefore without that Spirit no man
-can truly pray. This the apostle puts beyond dispute; "We know
-not," says he, "what we would pray for, as we ought, but the Spirit
-helpeth our infirmities." (Rom. viii. 26.) Men unacquainted with
-the work and power of the Holy Spirit, are ignorant of the mind of
-God; and those, certainly, can never please him with their prayers.
-It is not enough to know we want; but we should learn whether it be
-not sent as a blessing, disappointments to the proud, losses to the
-covetous, and to the negligent stripes; to remove these, were to
-secure the destruction, not help the salvation of the soul.
-
-The vile world knows nothing but carnally, after a fleshly manner
-and interpretation; and too many that would be thought enlightened
-are apt to call providences by wrong names, for instance,
-afflictions they style judgments, and trials, more precious than
-the beloved gold, they call miseries. On the other hand, they call
-the preferments of the world by the name of honour, and its wealth
-happiness; when for once that they are so, it is much to be feared
-they are sent of God a hundred times for judgments, at least trials,
-upon their possessors. Therefore, what to keep, what to reject, what
-to want, is a difficulty God only can resolve the soul. And since
-God knows better than we what we need, he can better tell us what
-to ask than we can him: which made Christ exhort his disciples to
-avoid long and repetitious prayers; (Matt. vi. 7, 8;) telling them
-that their heavenly Father knew what they needed before they asked:
-and therefore gave them a pattern to pray by; not as some fancy,
-to be a text for human liturgies, which of all services are most
-justly noted and taxed for length and repetition; but expressly to
-reprove and avoid them. But if those wants that are the subject of
-prayer were once agreed upon, though that might be a weighty point,
-yet how to pray is of still greater moment than to pray; it is not
-the request, but the frame of the petitioner's spirit. The what
-may be proper, but the how defective. As I said, God needs not to
-be told of our wants by us, who must tell them to us; yet he will
-be told them from us, that both we may seek him, and he may come
-down to us. But when this is done, "To this man will I look, saith
-the Lord, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and
-that trembleth at my word:" (Isaiah, lxvi. 2.) to the sick heart,
-the wounded soul, the hungry and thirsty, the weary and heavy laden
-ones: such sincerely want a helper.
-
-XIV. Nor is this sufficient to complete gospel-worship; the fourth
-requisite must be had, and that is faith; true faith, precious
-faith, the faith of God's chosen, that purifies their hearts, that
-overcomes the world, and is the victory of the saints. (1 Tim. i.
-5; Acts, xv. 9; Tit. i. 1; 2 Pet. i. 1; 1 John, v. 4.) This is that
-which animates prayer and presses it home, like the importunate
-woman, that would not be denied; to whom Christ, seeming to admire,
-said, "O woman, great is thy faith!" (Matt. xv. 28.) This is of the
-highest moment on our part, to give our addresses success with God;
-and yet not in our power neither, for it is the gift of God: from
-him we must have it; and with one grain of it more work is done,
-more deliverance is wrought, and more goodness and mercy received,
-than by all the runnings, willings, and toilings of man, with his
-inventions and bodily exercises: which, duly weighed, will easily
-spell out the meaning, why so much worship should bring so little
-profit to the world, as we see it does, viz. true faith is lost.
-"They ask, and receive not; they seek, and find not: they knock, and
-it is not opened unto them:" (James, iv. 3:) the case is plain;
-their requests are not mixed with purifying faith, by which they
-should prevail, as good Jacob's were, when he wrestled with God and
-prevailed. And the truth is, the generality are yet in their sins,
-following hearts' lusts, and living in worldly pleasure, being
-strangers to this precious faith. It is the reason rendered by the
-deep author to the Hebrews, of the unprofitableness of the word
-preached to some in those days; "Not being," says he, "mixed with
-faith in them that heard it." Can the minister then preach without
-faith? No: and much less can any man pray to purpose without faith,
-especially when we are told, that "the just live by faith." For
-worship is the supreme act of man's life; and whatever is necessary
-to inferior acts of religion must not be wanting there.
-
-XV. This may moderate the wonder in any, why Christ so often
-upbraided his disciples with, O ye of little faith! yet tells us,
-that one grain of it, though as little as that of mustard, one of
-the least of seeds, if true and right, is able to remove mountains.
-As if he had said, There is no temptation so powerful that it cannot
-overcome: wherefore those that are captivated by temptations, and
-remain unsupplied in their spiritual wants, have not this powerful
-faith: that is the true cause. So necessary was it of old, that
-Christ did not many mighty works where the people believed not;
-and though his power wrought wonders in other places, faith opened
-the way: so that it is hard to say, whether that power by faith,
-or faith by that power, wrought the cure. Let us call to mind what
-famous things a little clay and spittle, one touch of the hem of
-Christ's garment, and a few words out of his mouth, (John, ix. 6;
-Luke, viii. 47, 48,) did by the force of faith in the patients:
-"Believe ye that I am able to open your eyes?" (Matt. ix. 28;)
-"Yea, Lord," say the blind, and see. To the ruler, "only believe;"
-(Matt. ix. 23;) he did, and his dead daughter recovered life.
-Again, "If thou canst believe:" I do believe; says the father, help
-my unbelief: and the evil spirit was chased away, and the child
-recovered. He said to one, "Go, thy faith hath made thee whole;"
-(Mark, x. 52; Luke, vii. 48, 50;) and to another, "Thy faith hath
-saved thee; thy sins are forgiven thee." (Matt. xxi. 21, 22.) And
-to encourage his disciples to believe, that were admiring how soon
-his sentence was executed upon the fruitless fig-tree, he tells
-them, "Verily, if ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do
-this, which is done to the fig-tree; but also, if ye shall say unto
-this mountain, Be thou removed, and cast into the sea, it shall be
-done: and all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing,
-ye shall receive," (Matt. xviii. 19; Luke, xviii. 27.) This one
-passage convicts Christendom of gross infidelity; for she prays, and
-receives not.
-
-XVI. But some may say, It is impossible to receive all that a man
-may ask. It is not impossible to receive all that a man, that so
-believes, can ask. (Mark, ix. 23.) The fruits of faith are not
-impossible to those that truly believe in the God that makes them
-possible. When Jesus said to the ruler, "If thou canst believe," he
-adds, "all things are possible to him that believeth." (Matt. xix.
-26.) Well, but then some will say, It is impossible to have such
-faith: for this very faithless generation would excuse their want
-of faith, by making it impossible to have the faith they want. But
-Christ's answer to the infidelity of that age, will best confute
-the disbelief of this. "The things that are impossible with men,
-are possible with God." (Heb. xi. 6.) It will follow then, that it
-is not impossible with God to give that faith; though it is certain
-that without it it is impossible to please God: (1 Tim. i. 5; iii.
-9:) for so the author to the Hebrews teaches. And if it be else
-impossible to please God, it must be so to pray to God without this
-precious faith.
-
-XVII. But some may say, What is this faith that is so necessary
-to worship, and gives it such acceptance with God and returns
-that benefit to men? I say, It is a holy resignation to God, and
-confidence in him, testified by a religious obedience to his holy
-requirings, which gives sure evidence to the soul of the things
-not yet seen, and a general sense and taste of the substance of
-those things that are hoped for; that is, the glory which is to be
-revealed hereafter. As this faith is the gift of God, so it purifies
-the hearts of those that receive it. The apostle Paul is witness,
-that it will not dwell but in a pure conscience: he therefore in one
-place couples a pure heart and faith unfeigned together: in another,
-faith and a good conscience. James joins faith with righteousness,
-(James, ii.) and John with victory over the world; (1 John, v. 4;)
-"This," says be, "is the victory which overcomes the world, even our
-faith." (Rom. iv. 1, 2.)
-
-XVIII. The heirs of this faith are the true children of Abraham,
-(John, xvi. 9, 10,) in that they walk in the steps of Abraham,
-according to the obedience of faith, which only entitles people to
-be the children of Abraham. This lives above the world, not only in
-its sin, but righteousness: to this no man comes, but through death
-to self by the cross of Jesus, and an entire dependence by him, upon
-God.
-
-Famous are the exploits of this divine gift; time would fail to
-recount them: all sacred story is filled with them. But let it
-suffice, that by it the holy ancients endured all trials, overcame
-all enemies, prevailed with God, renowned his truth, finished their
-testimony, and obtained the reward of the faithful, a crown of
-righteousness, which is the eternal blessedness of the just.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-     1. Of pride, the first capital lust; its rise.--2. Its
-     definition and distinction.--3. That an inordinate desire of
-     knowledge in Adam, introduced man's misery.--4. He thereby lost
-     his integrity.--5. Knowledge puffs up.--6. The evil effects of
-     false, and the benefit of true knowledge.--7. Cain's example
-     a proof in the case.--8. The Jews' pride in pretending to be
-     wiser than Moses, God's servant, in setting their post by God's
-     post.--9. The effect of which was the persecution of the true
-     prophets.--10. The divine knowledge of Christ brought peace on
-     earth.--11. Of the blind guides, the priests, and the mischief
-     they have done.--12. The fall of Christians, and the pride they
-     have taken in it, hath exceeded the Jews; under the profession
-     of their new-moulded Christianity, they have murdered the
-     witness of the Lord Jesus.--13. The angels sang peace on earth
-     at the birth of the Lord of meekness and humility: but the pride
-     of the Pharisees withstood and calumniated him.--14. As Adam and
-     the Jews lost themselves by their ambition, so the Christians
-     losing the fear of God, grew creed and worship-makers, with this
-     injunction, Conform or burn.--15. The evil effects of this in
-     Christendom, so called.--16. The way of recovery out of such
-     miserable defection.
-
-
-I. Having thus discharged my conscience against that part of
-unlawful self, that fain would be a Christian, a believer, a
-saint, whilst a plain stranger to the cross of Christ, and the
-holy exercises of it; and in that briefly discovered what is true
-worship, and the use and business of the holy cross therein, to
-render its performance pleasing to Almighty God; I shall now, the
-same Lord assisting me, more largely prosecute that other part of
-unlawful self, which fills the study, care, and conversation of
-the world, presented to us in these three capital lusts, that is
-to say, pride, avarice, and luxury; from whence all other mischiefs
-daily flow, as streams from their proper fountains: the mortifying
-of which makes up the other; and indeed a very great part of the
-work of the true cross; and though last in place, yet first in
-experience and duty: which done, it introduces in the room of those
-evil habits, the blessed effects of that so much needed reformation,
-to wit, mortification, humility, temperance, love, patience, and
-heavenly-mindedness, with all other graces of the Spirit, becoming
-followers of the perfect Jesus, that most heavenly man.
-
-The care and love of all mankind are either directed to God or
-themselves. Those that love God above all, are ever humbling self
-to his commands, and only love self in subserviency to him that is
-Lord of all. But those who are declined from that love to God, are
-lovers of themselves more than God: for supreme love must centre in
-one of these two. To that inordinate self-love, the apostle rightly
-joins proud and high-minded. (2 Tim. iii. 2, 4.) For no sooner had
-the angels declined their love, duty and reverence to God, than they
-inordinately loved and valued themselves; which made them exceed
-their station, and aspire above the order of their creation. This
-was their pride, and this sad defection their dismal fall; who are
-reserved in chains of darkness unto the judgment of the great day of
-God.
-
-II. Pride, that pernicious evil, which begins this chapter, did
-also begin the misery of mankind: a most mischievous quality;
-and so commonly known by its motions and sad effects, that every
-unmortified breast carries its definition in it. However, I will
-say, in short, that pride is an excess of self-love, joined with an
-undervaluing of others, and a desire of dominion over them: the most
-troublesome thing in the world. There are four things by which it
-hath made itself best known to mankind, the consequences of which
-have brought a misery equal to its evil. The first is, an inordinate
-pursuit of knowledge; the second, an ambitious craving and seeking
-after power; the third, an extreme desire of personal respect
-and deference: the last excess is that of worldly furniture and
-ornaments. To the just and true witness of the eternal God, placed
-in the souls of all people, I appeal as to the truth of these things.
-
-III. To the first, it is plain, that an inordinate desire of
-knowledge introduced man's misery, and brought an universal lapse
-from the glory of his primitive state. Adam would needs be wiser
-than God had made him. It did not serve his turn to know his
-Creator, and give him that holy homage his being and innocency
-naturally engaged and excited him too; nor to have an understanding
-above all the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and
-the fishes of the sea, joined with a power to rule over all the
-visible creation of God; but he must be as wise as God too. This
-unwarrantable search, and as foolish as unjust ambition, made him
-unworthy of the blessings he received from God. This drives him out
-of paradise; and instead of being lord of the whole world, Adam
-becomes the wretchedest vagabond of the earth.
-
-IV. The lamentable consequence of this great defection, has been an
-exchange of innocency for guilt, and a paradise for a wilderness.
-But, which is yet worse, in this state Adam and Eve had got another
-god than the only true and living God: and he that enticed them
-to all this mischief, furnished them with a vain knowledge, and
-pernicious wisdom: the skill of lies and equivocations, shifts,
-evasions, and excuses. They had lost their plainness and sincerity,
-and from an upright heart, the image in which God had made man,
-he became a crooked, twining, twisting serpent; the image of that
-unrighteous spirit, to whose temptations he yielded up, with his
-obedience, his paradisaical happiness.
-
-V. So that fallen Adam's knowledge of God stood no more in a daily
-experience of the love and work of God in his soul, but in a notion
-of what he once did know and experience: which being not the true
-and living wisdom that is from above, but a mere picture, it
-cannot preserve man in purity; but puffs up, makes people proud,
-high-minded, and impatient of contradiction. This was the state of
-the apostate Jews before Christ came; and has been the condition of
-apostate Christians ever since he came: their religion standing,
-some bodily performances excepted, either in what they once knew of
-the work of God in themselves, and which they have revolted from; or
-in an historical belief, and an imaginary conception and paraphrase
-upon the experiences and prophecies of such holy men and women of
-God, as in all ages have deserved the style and character of his
-true children.
-
-VI. As such a knowledge of God cannot be true, so by experience we
-find, that it ever brings forth the quite contrary fruits to the
-true wisdom. For as this "is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,
-and easy to be entreated;" (James, iii. 17;) so the knowledge of
-degenerated and unmortified men is first impure: for it came by the
-commission of evil, and is held in an evil and impure conscience
-in them that disobey God's laws, and that daily do those things
-which they ought not to do; and for which they stand condemned
-before God's judgment-seat in the souls of men: the light of whose
-presence searches the most hidden things of darkness, the most
-secret thoughts, and concealed inclinations of ungodly men. This
-is the science, falsely so called: and as it is impure, so it is
-unpeaceable, cross, and hard to be entreated; froward, perverse, and
-persecuting; jealous that any should be better than they, and hating
-and abusing those that are.
-
-VII. It was this pride made Cain a murderer: (Gen. iv. 8:) it is
-a spiteful quality; full of envy and revenge. What! was not his
-religion and worship as good as his brother's? He had all the
-exterior parts of worship; he offered as well as Abel; and the
-offering of itself might be as good: but it seems the heart that
-offered it was not. So long ago did God regard the interior worship
-of the soul. Well, what was the consequence of this difference?
-Cain's pride stomached it: he could not bear to be outdone by his
-brother. He grew wrathful, and resolved to vindicate his offering
-by revenging the refusal of it upon his brother's life: and without
-any regard to natural affection, or the low and early condition of
-mankind, he barbarously dyed his hands in his brother's blood.
-
-VIII. The religion of the apostatized Jews did no better; for,
-having lost the inward life, power, and spirit of the law, they
-were puffed up with that knowledge they had: and their pretences to
-Abraham, Moses, and the promises of God, in that frame, served only
-to blow them up into an insufferable pride, arrogancy, and cruelty.
-For they could not bear true vision when it came to visit them; and
-entertained the messengers of their peace as if they had been wolves
-and tigers.
-
-IX. Yea, it is remarkable, the false prophets, the great engineers
-against the true ones, were ever sure to persecute them as false;
-and, by their interest with earthly princes, or the poor seduced
-multitude, made them the instruments of their malice. Thus it was,
-that one holy prophet was sawn asunder, another stoned to death,
-&c. So proud and obstinate is false knowledge, and the aspirers
-after it; which made holy Stephen cry out, "Ye stiff-necked and
-uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost:
-as did your fathers, so do ye." (Acts, vii. 51.)
-
-X. The true knowledge came with the joy of angels, singing, "Peace
-on earth, and good-will towards men;" (Luke, ii. 14;) the false
-knowledge entertained the message with calumnies: Christ must needs
-be an impostor; and that must prove him so, _to wit_, his power
-of working miracles; which was that which proved the contrary.
-They frequently sought to kill him: which at last they wickedly
-accomplished. But what was the chief motive to it? Why, he cried out
-against their hypocrisy, the broad phylacteries, the honour they
-sought of men. To be short, they give the reason themselves in these
-words: If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: that
-is, he will take away our credit with the people; they will adhere
-to him, and desert us; and so we shall lose our power and reputation
-with the multitude.
-
-XI. And the truth is, he came to level their honour, to overthrow
-their Rabbiship, and by his grace to bring the people to that inward
-knowledge of God, which they, by transgression, were departed from;
-that so they might see the deceitfulness of their blind guides, who
-by their vain traditions had made void the righteousness of the
-law: and who were so far from being the true doctors and lively
-expounders of it, that in reality they were the children of the
-devil, who was a proud liar and cruel murderer from the beginning.
-
-XII. Their pride in false knowledge having made them incapable of
-receiving the simplicity of the gospel, Christ thanks his Father,
-that he had hid the mysteries of it from the wise and prudent, and
-revealed them to babes. (Matt. xi. 25.) It was this false wisdom
-swelled the minds of the Athenians to that degree, that they
-despised the preaching of the apostle Paul as a vain and foolish
-thing. But that apostle who, of all the rest, had an education in
-the learning of those times, bitterly reflects on that wisdom, so
-much valued by Jews and Greeks; "Where," says he, "is the wise?
-Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not
-God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" (1 Cor. i. 20.) And
-he gives a good reason for it, "That no flesh should glory in his
-presence." (Verse 29.) Which is to say, God will stain the pride
-of man in false knowledge, that he should have nothing on this
-occasion to be proud of: it should be owing only to the revelation
-of the Spirit of God. The apostle goes further, and affirms, "That
-the world by wisdom knew not God:" (verse 21:) that is, it was so
-far from a help, that as men use it, it was a hindrance to the true
-knowledge of God. And in his first epistle to his beloved Timothy,
-he concludes thus: "O Timothy! keep that which is committed to thy
-trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of
-science, falsely so called." (Tim. vi. 20.) This was the sense of
-apostolical times, when the divine grace gave the true knowledge of
-God, and was the guide of Christians.
-
-XIII. Well, but what has been the success of those ages that
-followed the apostolical? Any whit better than that of the Jewish
-times? Not one jot. They have exceeded them; as with their pretences
-to greater knowledge, so in their degeneracy from the true Christian
-life: for though they had a more excellent pattern than the Jews,
-to whom God spoke by Moses his servant, he speaking to them by his
-beloved Son, the express image of his substance, the perfection
-of all meekness and humility; and though they seemed addicted to
-nothing more than an adoration of his name, and a veneration for
-the memory of his blessed disciples and apostles, yet so great was
-their defection from the inward power and life of Christianity
-in the soul, that their respect was little more than formal and
-ceremonious. For notwithstanding they, like the Jews, were mighty
-zealous in garnishing their sepulchres, and curious in carving their
-images; not only keeping with pretence what might be the relics of
-their persons, but recommending a thousand things as relics, which
-are purely fabulous, and very often ridiculous, and to be sure
-altogether unchristian; yet as to the great and weighty things of
-the Christian law, viz. love, meekness, and self-denial, they were
-degenerated. They grew high-minded, proud, boasters, without natural
-affection, curious, and controversial, ever perplexing the church
-with doubtful questions; filling the people with disputations,
-strife, and wrangling, drawing them into parties, till at last
-they fell into blood: as if they had been the worse for being once
-Christians.
-
-O the miserable state of these pretended Christians! that instead of
-Christ's and his apostles' doctrine, of loving enemies, and blessing
-them that curse them, they should teach the people, under the notion
-of Christian zeal, most inhumanly to butcher one another; and
-instead of suffering their own blood to be shed for the testimony
-of Jesus, they should shed the blood of the witnesses of Jesus for
-heretics. Thus that subtle serpent, or crafty evil spirit, that
-tempted Adam out of innocency, and the Jews from the law of God,
-has beguiled the Christians, by lying vanities, to depart from the
-Christian law of holiness, and so they are become slaves to him; for
-he rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience.
-
-XIV. And it is observable, that as pride, which is ever followed by
-superstition and obstinacy, put Adam upon seeking a higher station
-than God placed him in; and as the Jews, out of the same pride, to
-outdo their pattern, given them of God by Moses upon the mount,
-taught for doctrines their own traditions, insomuch that those that
-refused conformity to them, ran the hazard of Crucify, crucify:
-so the nominal Christians, from the same sin of pride, with great
-superstition and arrogance, have introduced, instead of a spiritual
-worship and discipline, that which is evidently ceremonious and
-worldly; with such innovations and traditions of men as are the
-fruit of the wisdom that is from below; witness their numerous and
-perplexed councils and creeds, with Conform or burn, at the end of
-them.
-
-XV. And as this unwarrantable pride set them first at work, to
-pervert the spirituality of the Christian worship, making it rather
-to resemble the shadowy religion of the Jews, and the gaudy worship
-of the Egyptians, than the great plainness and simplicity of the
-Christian institution, which is neither to resemble that of the
-mountain, nor the other of Jerusalem; so has the same pride and
-arrogancy spurred them on, by all imaginable cruelties to maintain
-this great Diana of theirs. No meek supplications, nor humble
-remonstrances, of those that kept close to primitive purity in
-worship and doctrine, could prevail with these nominal Christians
-to dispense with the imposition of their unapostolical traditions;
-but as the ministers and bishops of these degenerate Christians
-left their painful visitation and care over Christ's flock, and
-grew ambitious, covetous, and luxurious, resembling rather worldly
-potentates, than the humble-spirited and mortified followers of the
-blessed Jesus; so almost every history tells us, with what pride and
-cruelty, blood and butchery, and that with unusual and exquisite
-tortures, they have persecuted the holy members of Christ out of
-the world; and that upon such anathemas, as far as they could,
-they have disappointed them of the blessing of heaven too. These,
-true Christians call martyrs; but the clergy, like the persecuting
-Jews, have styled them blasphemers and heretics; in which they
-have fulfilled the prophecy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who did
-not say, that they should think they do the gods good service to
-kill the Christians, his dear followers, which might refer to the
-persecutions of the idolatrous Gentiles; (John, xvi. 2;) but that
-they should think they do God good service to kill them: which
-shows, that they should be such as professedly owned the true God,
-as the apostate Christians have all along pretended to do. So that
-they must be those wolves, that the apostle foretold, should arise
-out of themselves, and worry the flock of Christ, (Acts, xx. 29,)
-after the great falling away should commence, that was foretold by
-him, and made necessary, in order to the proving of the faithful,
-and the revelation of the great mystery of iniquity.
-
-I shall conclude this head with this assertion, that it is too
-undeniable a truth, where the clergy have been most in power and
-authority, and have had the greatest influence upon princes and
-states, there have been most confusions, wrangles, bloodshed,
-sequestrations, imprisonments, and exiles: to the justifying of
-which I call the testimony of the records of all times. How it is in
-our age I leave to the experience of the living; yet there is one
-demonstration that can hardly fail us; the people are not converted,
-but debauched, to a degree that time will not allow us an example.
-The worship of Christendom is visible, ceremonious, and gaudy; the
-clergy, ambitious of worldly preferments, under the pretence of
-spiritual promotion; making the earthly revenues of churchmen much
-the reason of their function; being almost ever sure to leave the
-present smaller livings, to solicit and obtain benefices of larger
-title and income. So that with their pride and avarice, which good
-old Peter foresaw would be their snares, they have drawn after them
-ignorance, misery, and irreligion upon Christendom.
-
-XVI. The way of recovery from this miserable defection is to come
-to a saving knowledge of religion; that is, an experience of the
-divine work of God in the soul: to obtain which be diligent to obey
-the grace that appears in thy soul, O man! that brings salvation;
-(Tit. ii. 2, 11, 12, 14;) it turns thee out of the broad way into
-the narrow way; from thy lusts to thy duty; from sin to holiness;
-from Satan to God. Thou must see and abhor self: thou must watch,
-and thou must pray, and thou must fast; thou must not look at thy
-tempter, but at thy preserver; avoid ill company, retire to thy
-solitudes, and be a chaste pilgrim in this evil world: and thus thou
-wilt arrive at the knowledge of God and Christ, that brings eternal
-life to the soul: a well-grounded assurance from what a man feels
-and knows within himself: such shall not be moved with evil tidings.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-     1. Pride craves power as well as knowledge.--2. The case of
-     Korah, &c. a proof.--3. Absalom's ambition confirms it.--4.
-     Nebuchadnezzar's does the like.--5. The history of Pisistratus,
-     Alexander, Cæsar, &c. shows the same thing.--6. The Turks are
-     a lively proof, who have shed much blood to gratify pride for
-     power.--7. The last ten years in Christendom exceed in proof of
-     this.--8. Ambition rests not in courts, it finds room in private
-     breasts too, and spoils families and societies.--9. Their peace
-     is great that limit their desires by God's grace, and having
-     power, use it to the good of others.
-
-
-I. But let us see the next most common, eminent, and mischievous
-effect of this evil. Pride does extremely crave power, than which
-not one thing has proved more troublesome and destructive to
-mankind. I need not labour myself much in evidence of this, since
-most of the wars of nations, depopulation of kingdoms, ruins of
-cities, with the slavery and misery that have followed, both our own
-experience and unquestionable histories, acquaint us to have been
-the effect of ambition, which is the lust of pride after power.
-
-II. How specious soever might be the pretences of Korah, Dathan,
-and Abiram, against Moses, it was their emulation of his mighty
-power in the camp of Israel that put them upon conspiracies and
-mutinies. They longed for his authority, and their not having it was
-his crime: for they had a mind to be the heads and leaders of the
-people. The consequence of which was a remarkable destruction to
-themselves and all their unhappy accomplices.
-
-III. Absalom, too, was for the people's rights against the tyranny
-of his father and his king; (2 Sam. xv.;) at least with this
-pretence he palliated his ambition; but his rebellion showed he was
-impatient for power, and that he resolved to sacrifice his duty as
-a son and subject to the importunities of his restless pride; which
-brought a miserable death to himself and an extraordinary slaughter
-upon his army.
-
-IV. Nebuchadnezzar is a lively instance of the excessive lust of
-pride for power. His successes and empire were too heady for him:
-so much too strong for his understanding, that he forgot he did not
-make himself, or that his power had a superior. He makes an image,
-and all must bow to it, or be burnt. And when Shadrach, Meshach, and
-Abednego refused to comply, "Who," says he, "is that God that shall
-deliver you out of my hands?" (Dan. iii.) And notwithstanding the
-convictions he had upon him, at the constancy of those excellent
-men, and Daniel's interpretation of his dreams, it was not long
-before the pride of his power had filled his heart, and then his
-mouth, with this haughty question, "Is not this great Babylon, that
-I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power,
-and for the honour of my majesty?" (Dan. iv. 30.) But we are told,
-that while the words were in his mouth, a voice from heaven rebuked
-the pride of his spirit, and he was driven from the society of men,
-to graze among the beasts of the field.
-
-V. If we look into the histories of the world, we shall find many
-instances to prove the mischief of this lust of pride. I will
-mention a few of them for their sakes who have either not read or
-considered them.
-
-Solon made Athens free by his excellent constitution of laws; but
-the ambition of Pisistratus began the ruin of it before his eyes.
-Alexander, not contented with his own kingdom, invaded others, and
-filled with spoil and slaughter those countries he subdued: and it
-was not ill said by the man, who, when Alexander accused him of
-piracy, told him to his face that Alexander was the greatest pirate
-in the world. It was the same ambition that made Cæsar turn traitor
-to his masters, and with their own army, put into his hand for
-their service, subdue them to his yoke, and usurp the government;
-which ended in the expulsion of freedom and virtue together in that
-commonwealth; for goodness quickly grew to be faction in Rome; and
-that sobriety and wisdom which ever rendered her senators venerable,
-became dangerous to their safety: insomuch that his successors
-hardly left one they did not kill or banish; unless such as turned
-to be flatterers of their unjust acquisition, and the imitators of
-their debauched manners.
-
-VI. The Turks are a great proof to the point in hand, who to extend
-their dominion, have been the cause of shedding much blood, and
-laying many stately countries waste.
-
-And yet they are to be outdone by apostate Christians; whose
-practice is therefore more condemnable, because they have been
-better taught: they have had a master of another doctrine and
-example. It is true, they call him Lord still, but they let their
-ambition reign: they love power more than one another; and to get it
-kill one another; though charged by him not to strike, but to love
-and serve one another. And, which adds to the tragedy, all natural
-affection is sacrificed to the fury of this lust: and therefore
-are stories so often stained with the murder of parents, children,
-uncles, nephews, masters, &c.
-
-VII. If we look abroad into remoter parts of the world, we shall
-rarely hear of wars; but in Christendom rarely of peace. A very
-trifle is too often made a ground of quarrel here: nor can any
-league be so sacred or inviolable that arts shall not be used to
-evade and dissolve it to increase dominion. No matter who, nor how
-many are slain, made widows and orphans, or lose their estates
-and livelihoods; what countries are ruined; what towns and cities
-spoiled: if by all these things the ambitious can but arrive at
-their ends! To go no further back than sixty years, that little
-period of time will furnish us with many wars begun upon ill
-grounds, and ended in great desolation. Nay, the last twelve years
-of our time make as pregnant a demonstration as we can furnish
-ourselves with from the records of any age. It is too tedious, nor
-is it my business, to be particular: it has been often well observed
-by others, and is almost known to all, I mean the French, Spanish,
-German, English, and Dutch wars.
-
-VIII. But ambition does not only dwell in courts and senates: it
-is too natural to every private breast to strain for power. We
-daily see how much men labour their utmost wit and interest to be
-great, to get higher places, or greater titles than they have,
-that they may look bigger and be more acknowledged; take place
-of their former equals, and so equal those that were once their
-superiors: compel friends, and be revenged on enemies. This makes
-Christianity so little loved of worldly men; its kingdom is not
-of this world; and though they may speak it fair, it is the world
-they love: that without uncharitableness we may truly say, People
-profess Christianity, but they follow the world. They are not for
-seeking the kingdom of heaven first, and the righteousness thereof,
-(Matt. vi. 33,) and to trust God with the rest; but for securing to
-themselves the wealth and glory of this world, and adjourning the
-care of salvation to a sick bed, and the extreme moments of life; if
-yet they believe a life to come.
-
-IX. To conclude this head; great is their peace, who know a limit
-to their ambitious minds; that have learned to be contented with
-the appointments and bounds of Providence: that are not careful
-to be great; but, being great, are humble and do good. Such keep
-their wits with their consciences, and, with an even mind, can at
-all times measure the uneven world, rest fixed in the midst of all
-its uncertainties, and as becomes those who have an interest in a
-better, in the good time and will of God, cheerfully leave this;
-when the ambitious, conscious of their evil practices, and weighed
-down to their graves with guilt, must go to a tribunal that they can
-neither awe nor bribe.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX.
-
-     1. The third evil effect of pride is love of honour and respect.
-     Too many are guilty of it.--2. It had like to have cost Mordecai
-     dear. Great mischief has befallen nations on this account.--3.
-     The world is out in the business of true honour, as well as in
-     that of true science.--4. Reasons why the author, and the rest
-     of the people he walks with, use not these fashions.--5. The
-     first is, the sense they had in the hour of their conviction,
-     of the unsuitableness of them to the Christian spirit and
-     practice, and that the root they came from was pride and
-     self-love.--6. Reproach could not move them from that sense and
-     practice accordingly.--7. They do it not to make sects, or for
-     distinction.--8. Nor yet to countenance formality, but passively
-     let drop vain customs, and so are negative to forms.--9. Their
-     behaviour is a test upon the world.--10. And this cross to the
-     world a test upon them.--11. The second reason against them is
-     their emptiness.--12. Honour in Scripture is not so taken as
-     it is in the world. It is used for obedience.--13. It is used
-     for preferments.--14. A digression about folly in a Scripture
-     sense.--15. Honour is used for reputation.--16. Honour is also
-     attributed to functions and capacities, by way of esteem.--17.
-     Honour is taken for help and countenance of inferiors.--18.
-     Honour is used for service and esteem to all states and
-     capacities: honour all men.--19. Yet there is a limitation, in a
-     sense, to the righteous, by the Psalmist; to honour the godly,
-     and contemn the wicked.--20. Little of this honour found in the
-     world's fashions.--21. The third reason against them is, they
-     mock and cheat people of the honour due to them.--22. The author
-     and his friends are for true honour.--23. The fourth reason is,
-     that if the fashions carried true honour in them, the debauched
-     could honour men, which cannot be.--24. The fifth reason is,
-     that then men of spite, hypocrisy, and revenge, could pay
-     honour, which is impossible.--25. The sixth reason is drawn from
-     the antiquity of true honour.--26. The seventh reason is from
-     the rise of the vain honour, and the teachers of it, wherein
-     the clown, upon a comparison, excels the courtier for a man of
-     breeding.--27. The eighth reason against these honours is, that
-     they may be had for money, which true honour cannot be.--28.
-     The ninth and last reason is, because the holy Scripture
-     expressly forbids them to true Christians.--29. As in the case
-     of Mordecai.--30. A passage between a bishop and the author
-     in this matter.--31. Likewise the case of Elihu in Job.--32.
-     Also the doctrine of CHRIST to his disciples.--33. Paul
-     against conforming to the world's fashions.--34. Peter against
-     fashioning ourselves according to the world's lusts.--35. James
-     against respect to persons.--36. Yet Christians are civil and
-     mannerly in a right way.--37. But unlike the world in the nature
-     of it, and motives to it.--38. Testimonies in favour of our
-     dissent and practice.
-
-
-I. The third evil effect of pride, is an excessive desire of
-personal honour and respect.
-
-Pride, therefore loves power, that she might have homage, and that
-every one may give her honour, and such as are wanting in that,
-expose themselves to her anger and revenge. And as pride, so this
-evil effect is more or less diffused through corrupt mankind; and
-has been the occasion of great animosity, and mischief in the world.
-
-II. We have a pregnant instance in holy writ, what malice and
-revenge proud man is capable of, when not gratified in this
-particular. It had almost cost Mordecai his neck, and the whole
-people of the Jews their lives, because he would not bow himself to
-Haman, who was a great favourite to king Ahasuerus. And the practice
-of the world, even in our own age, will tell us, that not striking
-a flag or sail, and not saluting certain ports or garrisons, yea,
-less things have given rise to mighty wars between states and
-kingdoms, to the expense of much treasure, but more blood. The like
-has followed about the precedency of princes and their ambassadors.
-Also the envy, quarrels, and mischiefs that have happened among
-private persons, upon conceit that they have not been respected to
-their degree or quality among men, without hat, knee, or title: to
-be sure, duels and murders not a few. I was once myself in France[3]
-set upon about eleven at night, as I was walking to my lodging, by
-a person that waylaid me, with his naked sword in his hand, who
-demanded satisfaction of me for taking no notice of him, at a time
-when he civilly saluted me with his hat; though the truth was, I saw
-him not when he did it. I will suppose he had killed me, for he made
-several passes at me, or I, in my defence, had killed him, when I
-disarmed him, as the earl of Crawford's servant saw, that was by; I
-ask any man of understanding or conscience, if the whole ceremony
-was worth the life of a man, considering the dignity of the nature,
-and the importance of the life of man, both with respect to God his
-Creator, himself, and the benefit of civil society.
-
-  [3] Which was before I professed the communion I am now of.
-
-III. But the truth is, the world, under its degeneracy from God, is
-as much out of the way as to true honour and respect, as in other
-things; for mere shows, and those vain ones, too, are much of the
-honour and respect that are expressed in the world; that a man may
-say concerning them, as the apostle speaks of science, that is, they
-are honours and respects falsely so called; having nothing of the
-nature of true honour and respect in them: but as degenerate men,
-loving to be honoured, first devised them, so pride only loves and
-seeks them, and is affronted and angry for want of them. Did men
-know a true Christian state, and the honour that comes from above,
-which JESUS teaches, they would not covet these very vanities, much
-less insist upon them.
-
-IV. And here give me leave to set down the reasons more
-particularly, why I, and the people with whom I walk in religious
-society, have declined, as vain and foolish, several worldly customs
-and fashions of respect, much in request at this time of day:
-and I beseech thee, reader, to lay aside all prejudice and scorn,
-and with the meekness and inquiry of a sober and discreet mind,
-read and weigh what may be here alleged in our defence: and if we
-are mistaken, rather pity and inform, than despise and abuse our
-simplicity.
-
-V. The first and most pressing motive upon our spirits, to decline
-the practice of these present customs, pulling off the hat, bowing
-the body or knee, and giving people gaudy titles and epithets in
-our salutations and addresses, was that savour, sight and sense of
-God, by his light and Spirit given us, of the Christian world's
-apostacy from God, and the cause and effects of that great and
-lamentable defection. In the discovery of which the sense of our
-state came first before us, and we were made to see him whom we
-pierced, and to mourn for it. A day of humiliation overtook us,
-and we fainted to that pleasure and delight we once loved. Now our
-works went beforehand to judgment, and a thorough search was made,
-and the words of the prophet became well understood by us; "Who can
-abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears?"
-"He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap." (Mal. iii.
-2.) And as the apostle said, "If the righteous scarcely be saved,
-where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (1 Peter, iv. 18.)
-"Wherefore," says the apostle Paul, "knowing the terror of the Lord,
-we persuade men:" (2 Cor. v. 11:) what to do? To come out of the
-nature, spirit, lusts, and customs of this wicked world: remembering
-that, as Jesus has said, "For every idle word that man shall speak,
-he shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." (Matt. xii.
-36.)
-
-This concern of mind and dejection of spirit was visible to our
-neighbours; and we are not ashamed to own, that the terrors of
-the Lord took such hold upon us, because we had long, under a
-profession of religion, grieved God's Holy Spirit, that reproved
-us in secret for our disobedience; that as we abhorred to think of
-continuing in our old sins, so we feared to use lawful things, lest
-we should use them unlawfully. Our heaven seemed to melt away, and
-our earth to be removed out of its place; and we were like men, as
-the apostle said, upon whom the ends of the world were come. God
-knows it was so in this day; the brightness of his coming to our
-souls discovered, and the breath of his mouth destroyed every plant
-he had not planted in us. He was a swift witness against every evil
-thought and every unfruitful work; and, blessed be his name, we were
-not offended in him, or at his righteous judgments. Now it was that
-a grand inquest came upon our whole life: every word, thought, and
-deed was brought to judgment, the root examined, and its tendency
-considered. "The lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the
-pride of life," (1 John, ii. 16,) were opened to our view; the
-mystery of iniquity in us. And by knowing the evil leaven, and its
-divers evil effects in ourselves, how it had wrought, and what
-it had done, we came to have a sense and knowledge of the states
-of others: and what we could not, nay, we dare not let live and
-continue in ourselves, as being manifested to us to proceed from an
-evil principle in the time of man's degeneracy, we could not comply
-with in others. Now this I say, and that in the fear and presence
-of the all-seeing, just God, the present honours and respect of the
-world, among other things, became burdensome to us: we saw they had
-no being in paradise, that they grew in the night-time, and came
-from an ill root; and that they only delighted a vain and ill mind,
-and that much pride and folly were in them.
-
-VI. And though we easily foresaw the storms of reproach that would
-fall upon us for our refusing to practise them; yet we were so far
-from being shaken in our judgment, that it abundantly confirmed
-our sense of them. For so exalted a thing is man, and so loving of
-honour and respect, even from his fellow-creatures, that so soon as
-in tenderness of conscience towards God we could not perform them
-as formerly, he became more concerned than for all the rest of our
-differences, however material to salvation. So that let the honour
-of God and our own salvation do as it will, it was greater heresy
-and blasphemy to refuse him the homage of the hat, and his usual
-titles of honour; to deny to pledge his healths, or play with him at
-cards and dice, than any other principle we maintained: for being
-less in his view, it seemed not so much in his way.
-
-VII. And though it be frequently objected that we seek to set up
-outward forms of preciseness, and that is but as a green riband,
-the badge of the party, the better to be known: I do declare, in
-the fear of Almighty God, that these are but the imaginations and
-vain constructions of insensible men, that have not had that sense
-which the Lord hath given us, of what arises from the right and the
-wrong root in man: and when such censurers of our simplicity shall
-be inwardly touched and awakened by the mighty power of God, and see
-things as they are in their proper natures and seeds, they will then
-know their own burden, and easily acquit us, without the imputation
-of folly or hypocrisy herein.
-
-VIII. To say that we strain at small things, which becomes not
-people of so fair pretensions to liberty and freedom of spirit: I
-answer with meekness, truth, and sobriety; first, nothing is small
-that God makes matter of conscience to do, or leave undone. Next as
-inconsiderable as they are made, by those that object upon us, they
-are much set by; so greatly as for our not giving them to be beaten,
-imprisoned, refused justice, &c. To say nothing of the derision and
-reproach that hath been frequently flung at us on this account.
-So that if we had wanted a proof of the truth of our inward belief
-and judgment, the very practice of them that opposed it would have
-abundantly confirmed us. But let it suffice to us, that "Wisdom
-is justified of her children:" (Matt. xi. 19:) we only passively
-let fall the practice of what we are taught to believe is vain and
-unchristian: in which we are negative to forms: for we leave off, we
-do not set up forms.
-
-IX. The world is so set upon the ceremonious parts and outside of
-things, that it has well beseemed the wisdom of God in all ages to
-bring forth his dispensations with very different appearances to
-their settled customs; thereby contradicting human inventions, and
-proving the integrity of his confessors. Nay, it is a test upon the
-world: it tries what patience, kindness, sobriety, and moderation
-they have: if the rough and homely outside of truth stumble not
-their minds from the reception of it, whose beauty is within: it
-makes a great discovery upon them. For he who refuses a precious
-jewel, because it is presented in a plain box, will never esteem
-it to its value, nor set his heart upon keeping it; therefore I
-call it a test, because it shows where the hearts and affections of
-the people stick, after all their great pretence to more excellent
-things.
-
-X. It is also a mighty trial upon God's people, in that they are
-put upon the discovery of their contradiction to the customs
-generally received and esteemed in the world; which exposes them
-to the wonder, scorn, and abuse of the multitude. But there is a
-hidden treasure in it: it inures us to reproach, it teaches us
-to despise the false reputation of the world, and silently to
-undergo the contradiction and scorn of its votaries; and finally
-with a Christian meekness and patience to overcome their injuries
-and reproaches. Add to this; it weans thee of thy familiars; for
-being slighted of them as a ninny, a fool, a frantic, &c. thou
-art delivered from a greater temptation; and that is the power and
-influence of their vain conversation. And last of all, it lists thee
-of the company of the blessed, mocked, persecuted JESUS: to fight
-under his banner against the world, the flesh, and the devil: that
-after having faithfully suffered with him in a state of humiliation,
-thou mayst reign with him in a state of glorification: who glorifies
-his poor, despised, constant followers with the glory he had with
-the Father before the world began. (John, xvii. 5.) This was the
-first reason of our declining to practise the before-mentioned
-honours, respect, &c.
-
-XI. The second reason why we decline and refuse the present use
-of these customs in our addresses and salutations, is from the
-consideration of their very emptiness and vanity: that there is
-nothing of true honour and respect in them, supposing them not to
-be evil. And, as religion and worship are degenerated into form and
-ceremony, and they not according to primitive practice neither, so
-is honour and respect too; there being little of that in the world
-as well as of the other; and to be sure, in these customs, none that
-is justifiable by Scripture or reason.
-
-XII. In Scripture we find the word honour often and diversely
-used. First for obedience: as when God saith, "They that honour
-me;" (1 Sam. ii. 30:) that is, that keep my commandments. "Honour
-the king;" (1 Pet. ii. 17;) that is, obey the king. "Honour thy
-father and mother;" (Exod. xx. 12;) that is, saith the apostle to
-the Ephesians, "Obey thy father and thy mother in the Lord, for
-that is right:" (Eph. vi. 1, 2:) take heed to their precepts and
-advice: presupposing always, that rulers and parents command lawful
-things, else they dishonour themselves to enjoin unlawful things;
-and subjects and children dishonour their superiors and parents, in
-complying with their unrighteous commands. Also Christ uses this
-word so, when he says, "I have not a devil, but I honour my Father,
-and ye dishonour me;" (John, viii. 49;) that is, I do my Father's
-will in what I do, but you will not hear me; you reject my counsel,
-and will not obey my voice. It was not refusing hat and knee, nor
-empty trifles: no, it was disobedience; resisting him that God had
-sent, and not believing in him. This was the dishonour he taxed
-them with; using him as an impostor, that God had ordained for the
-salvation of the world. And of these dishonourers there are but too
-many at this day. Christ has a saying to the same effect; "That all
-men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father; and he
-that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father, which hath
-sent him:" (John, v. 23:) that is, they that hearken not to Christ,
-and do not worship and obey him, they do not hear, worship, nor
-obey God. As they pretended to believe in God, so they were to have
-believed in him; he told them so. This is pregnantly manifested in
-the case of the centurion, whose faith was so much commended by
-Christ; where, giving Jesus an account of his honourable station, he
-tells him, "He had soldiers under his authority, and when he said
-to one, Go, he went; to another, Come, he came; and to a third,
-Do this, he did it." (Luke, vii. 8.) In this it was he placed the
-honour of his capacity, and the respect of his soldiers, and not in
-hats and legs: nor are such customs yet in use amongst soldiers,
-being effeminate, and unworthy of masculine gravity.
-
-XIII. In the next place, honour is used for preferment to trust
-and eminent employments. So the Psalmist, speaking to God: "For
-thou hast crowned him with glory and honour:" again, "Honour and
-majesty hast thou laid on him;" (Psalm viii. 5; xxi. 5;) that is,
-God hath given Christ power over all his enemies, and exalted him
-to great dominion. Thus the wise man intimates, when he says, "The
-fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honour is
-humility." (Prov. xv. 33.) That is, before advancement or preferment
-is humility. Further, he has this saying, "As snow in summer, and
-as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool:" (Prov.
-xxvi. 10:) that is, a fool is not capable of the dignity of trust,
-employment, or preferment: they require virtue, wisdom, integrity,
-diligence, with which fools are unfurnished. And yet if the respects
-and titles in use amongst us are to go for marks of honour,
-Solomon's proverb will take place, and doubtless doth, upon the
-practice of this age, that yields so much of that honour to a great
-many of Solomon's fools; who are not only silly men, but wicked too;
-such as refuse instruction, and hate the fear of the Lord; (Prov.
-xiii. 18;) which only maketh one of his wise men.
-
-XIV. And as virtue and wisdom are the same, so folly and wickedness.
-Thus Shechem's lying with Dinah, Jacob's daughter, is called: (Gen.
-xxxiv. 7:) so is the rebellion and wickedness of the Israelites in
-Joshua. (Josh. vii. 15.) The Psalmist expresses thus: "My wounds
-stink, because of my foolishness:" (Psalm xxxviii. 5:) that is, his
-sin. And, "The Lord will speak peace to his saints, but let them
-not turn again to folly:" (Psalm lxxxv. 8:) that is, to evil. "His
-own iniquities," says Solomon, "shall take the wicked himself, and
-he shall be holden with the cords of his sins: he shall die without
-instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray."
-(Prov. v. 22, 23.) Christ puts foolishness with blasphemy, pride,
-theft, murders, adulteries, wickedness, &c. (Mark, vii. 10-12.) I
-was the more willing to add these passages, to show the difference
-that there is between the mind of the Holy Ghost, and the notion
-that those ages had of fools, that deserve not honour, and that
-which is generally meant by fools and folly in our time; that we may
-the better understand the disproportion there is between honour, as
-then understood by the Holy Ghost, and those that were led thereby;
-and the apprehension of it, and the practice of those latter ages of
-professed Christians.
-
-XV. But honour is also taken for reputation, and it is so understood
-with us: "A gracious woman," says Solomon, "retaineth honour;"
-(Prov. xi. 16;) that is, she keeps her credit: and by her virtue,
-maintains her reputation, of sobriety and chastity. In another
-place, "It is an honour for a man to cease from strife:" (Prov.
-xx. 3:) that is, it makes for his reputation, as a wise and good
-man. Christ uses the word thus, where he says, "A prophet is not
-without honour, save in his own country;" (Matt. xiii. 57;) that
-is, he has credit, and is valued, save at home. The apostle to the
-Thessalonians has a saying to this effect: "That every one of you
-should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour:"
-(1 Thes. iv. 4:) that is, in chastity and sobriety. In all which
-nothing of the fashions by us declined is otherwise concerned than
-to be totally excluded.
-
-XVI. There is yet another use of the word honour in Scripture, and
-that is to functions and capacities: as, "An elder is worthy of
-double honour:" (1 Tim. v. 17:) that is, he deserves double esteem,
-love, and respect; being holy, merciful, temperate, peaceable,
-humble, &c., especially one that labours in word and doctrine.
-So Paul recommends Epaphroditus to the Philippians; "Receive
-him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such in
-reputation:" (Phil. ii. 29:) as if he had said, Let them be valued
-and regarded by you in what they say and teach. Which is the truest,
-and most natural and convincing way of testifying respect to a man
-of God; as Christ said to his disciples, "If ye love me ye will keep
-my sayings." Further, the apostle bids us, To honour widows indeed:
-that is, such women who are of chaste lives and exemplary virtue are
-honourable.
-
-XVII. The word honour, in the Scripture, is also used from superiors
-to inferiors. Which is plain in the instance of Ahasuerus to
-Haman; "What shall be done to the man whom the king delighteth
-to honour?" (Esther, vi. 6.) Why, he mightily advanced him, as
-Mordecai afterwards. And more particularly it is said, that "the
-Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour:" (Esther, viii.
-16:) that is, they escaped the persecution that was like to fall
-upon them, and by the means of Esther and Mordecai, they enjoyed
-not only peace, but favour and countenance too. In this sense the
-apostle Peter advised Christian men "To honour their wives:" (1 Pet.
-iii. 7:) that is, to love, value, cherish, countenance, and esteem
-them, for their fidelity and affection to their husbands, for their
-tenderness and care over their children, and for their diligence and
-circumspection in their families. There is no ceremonious behaviour,
-or gaudy titles requisite to express this honour. Thus God honours
-holy men: "Them that honour me," says the Lord, "I will honour; and
-they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed:" (1 Sam. ii. 30:)
-that is, I will do good to them, I will love, bless, countenance,
-and prosper them that honour me, that obey me: but they that despise
-me, that resist my Spirit, and break my law, they shall be lightly
-esteemed, little set by or accounted of; they shall not find favour
-with God, nor righteous men. And so we see it daily among men: if
-the great visit or concern themselves to aid the poor; we say, that
-such a great man did me the honour to come and see, or help me in my
-need.
-
-XVIII. I shall conclude this with one passage more, and that is a
-very large, plain, and pertinent one: "Honour all men, and love
-the brotherhood:" (1 Pet. ii. 17:) that is, love is above honour,
-and that is reserved for the brotherhood. But honour, which is
-esteem and regard, that thou owest to all men; and if all, then thy
-inferiors. But why for all men? Because they are the creation of
-God, and the most noble part of his creation too: they are also thy
-own kind: be natural, and assist them with what thou canst; be ready
-to perform any real respect, and yield them any good or countenance
-thou canst.
-
-XIX. And yet there seems a limitation to the command, Honour all
-men, in that passage of godly David, "Who shall abide in thy
-tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? he in whose eyes a
-vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord."
-(Psalm xv. 1, 4.) Here honour is confined and affixed to godly
-persons; and dishonour made the duty of the righteous to the wicked,
-and a mark of their being righteous, that they dishonour, that is,
-slight or disregard them. To conclude this Scripture inquiry after
-honour, I shall contract the subject of it under three capacities,
-superiors, equals, and inferiors: honour, to superiors is obedience;
-to equals, love; to inferiors, countenance and help: that is honour
-after God's mind, and the holy people's fashion of old.
-
-XX. But how little of all this is to be seen or had in a poor empty
-hat, bow, cringe, or gaudy, flattering title, let the truth-speaking
-witness of God in all mankind judge. For I must not appeal to
-corrupt, proud, and self-speaking man, of the good or evil of those
-customs; that as little as he would render them, are loved and
-sought by him, and he is out of humour and angry if he has them not.
-
-This is our second reason why we refuse to practise the accustomed
-ceremonies of honour and respect; because we find no such notion
-or expression of honour and respect, recommended to us by the Holy
-Ghost in the Scriptures of truth.
-
-XXI. Our third reason for not using them as testimonies of honour
-and respect is, because there is no discovery of honour or respect
-to be made by them: it is rather eluding and equivocating it;
-cheating people of the honour and respect that is due to them;
-giving them nothing in the show of something. There is in them no
-obedience to superiors, no love to equals, no help or countenance to
-inferiors.
-
-XXII. We are, we declare to the whole world, for true honour
-and respect; we honour the king, our parents, our masters, our
-magistrates, our landlords, one another; yea, all men, after God's
-way, used by holy men and women of old time: but we refuse these
-customs as vain and deceitful; not answering the end they are used
-for.
-
-XXIII. But, fourthly, there is yet more to be said: we find that
-vain, loose, and worldly people are the great lovers and practisers
-of them, and most deride our simplicity of behaviour. Now we
-assuredly know, from the sacred testimonies, that those people
-cannot give true honour that live in a dishonourable spirit; they
-understand it not; but they can give the hat and knee, and that they
-are very liberal of, nor are any more expert at it. This is to us a
-proof that no true honour can be testified by those customs, which
-vanity and looseness love and use.
-
-XXIV. Next to them I will add hypocrisy, and revenge too. For
-how little do many care for each other! Nay, what spite, envy,
-animosity, secret backbiting, and plotting one against another,
-under the use of these idle respects; till passion, too strong for
-cunning, breaks through hypocrisy into open affront and revenge!
-It cannot be so with the Scripture honour: to obey, or prefer a
-man, out of spite, is not usually done: and to love, help, serve,
-and countenance a person, in order to deceive and be revenged of
-him, is a thing never heard of: these admit of no hypocrisy nor
-revenge. Men do not these things to palliate ill-will, which are
-the testimonies of quite the contrary. It is absurd to imagine it,
-because impossible to be done.
-
-XXV. Our sixth reason is, that honour was from the beginning: but
-hat-respects and most titles are of late: therefore there was true
-honour before hats or titles; and consequently true honour stands
-not in them. And that which ever was the way to express true honour
-is the best way still; and this the Scripture teaches better than
-dancing-masters can do.
-
-XXVI. Seventhly, if honour consists in such-like ceremonies, then
-will it follow, that they are most capable of showing honour who
-perform it most exactly, according to the mode or fashion of the
-times; consequently, that man hath not the measure of true honour,
-from a just and reasonable principle in himself, but by the means
-and skill of the fantastic dancing-masters of the times: and for
-this cause it is we see that many give much money to have their
-children learn their honours, falsely so called. And what doth
-this but totally exclude the poor country people; who, though they
-plough, till, sow, reap, go to market, and in all things obey
-their justices, landlords, fathers, and masters, with sincerity
-and sobriety, rarely use those ceremonies; but if they do it is so
-awkwardly and meanly, that they are esteemed by a court critic so
-ill favoured as only fit to make a jest of and be laughed at: but
-what sober man will not deem their obedience beyond the others'
-vanity and hypocrisy? This base notion of honour turns out of
-doors the true, and sets the false in its place. Let it be further
-considered, that the way or fashion of doing it is much more in
-the design of its performers, as well as view of its spectators,
-than the respect itself. Whence it is commonly said, He is a man of
-good mien; or, She is a woman of exact behaviour. And what is this
-behaviour but fantastic, cramped postures and cringings, unnatural
-to their shape; and, if it were not fashionable, ridiculous to the
-view of all people; and is therefore to the Eastern countries a
-proverb.
-
-XXVII. But yet, eighthly, real honour consists not in a hat, bow,
-or title, because all these things may be had for money, for which
-reason, how many dancing-schools, plays, &c. are there in the land,
-to which youth is generally sent to be educated in these vain
-fashions! Whilst they are ignorant of the honour that is of God, and
-their minds are allured to visible things that perish; and instead
-of remembering their Creator, are taken up with toys and fopperies;
-and sometimes so much worse, as to cost themselves a disinheriting,
-and their indiscreet parents grief and misery all their days. (Prov.
-iii. 9.) If parents would honour God in the help of his poor with
-the substance they bestow on such an education, they would find a
-far better account in the end.
-
-XXVIII. But lastly, we cannot esteem bows, titles, and pulling off
-of hats, to be real honour, because such-like customs have been
-prohibited by God, his Son, and servants in days past. This I shall
-endeavour to show by three or four express authorities.
-
-XXIX. My first example and authority is taken from the story of
-Mordecai and Haman; so close to this point, that methinks it should
-at least command silence to the objections frequently advanced
-against us. Haman was first minister of state, and favourite to king
-Ahasuerus. The text says, That the king set his seat above all the
-princes that were with him; and all the king's servants bowed and
-reverenced Haman; for the king had so commanded concerning him; but
-Mordecai, it seems, bowed not, nor did him reverence. (Esther, iii.
-1, 2.) This at first made ill for Mordecai; a gallows was prepared
-for him at Haman's command. But the sequel of the story shows that
-Haman proved his own invention, and ended his pride with his life
-upon it. Well now, speaking as the world speaks, and looking upon
-Mordecai without the knowledge of the success; was not Mordecai a
-very clown, at least a silly, morose, and humorous man, to run such
-a hazard for a trifle? What hurt had it done him to have bowed to
-and honoured one the king honoured? Did he not despise the king, in
-disregarding Haman? Nay, had not the king commanded that respect;
-and are not we to honour and obey the king? One would have thought
-he might have bowed for the king's sake, whatever he had in his
-heart, and yet have come off well enough; for that he bowed not
-merely to Haman, but to the king's authority; besides, it was but an
-innocent ceremony. But it seems Mordecai was too plain and stout,
-and not fine and subtle enough to avoid the displeasure of Haman.
-
-Howbeit, he was an excellent man: he feared God, and wrought
-righteousness. And in this very thing also he pleased God, and
-even the king too, at last, that had most cause to be angry with
-him: for he advanced him to Haman's dignity; and if it could be
-to greater honour. It is true, sad news first came; no less than
-destruction to Mordecai, and the whole people of the Jews besides,
-for his sake: but Mordecai's integrity and humiliation, his fasting,
-and strong cries to God prevailed, and the people were saved, and
-poor condemned Mordecai comes, after all, to be exalted above the
-princes, whether in this or any other respect. They that endure
-faithful in that which they are convinced God requires of them,
-though against the grain and humour of the world and themselves
-too, they shall find a blessed recompense in the end. My brethren,
-remember the cup of cold water: "We shall reap if we faint not." And
-call to mind, that our Captain bowed not to him that told him, "If
-thou wilt fall down and worship me, I will give thee all the glory
-of the world:" shall we bow then? O no! Let us follow our blessed
-Leader.
-
-XXX. But before I leave this section, it is fit I add, that in
-conference with a late bishop, and none of the least eminent, upon
-this subject and instance, I remember he sought to evade it thus:
-"Mordecai," says he, "did not refuse to bow, as it was a testimony
-of respect to the king's favourite; but he, being a figure and
-type of Christ, refused, because Haman was of the uncircumcision,
-and ought to bow to him rather." To which I replied, That allowing
-Mordecai to be a figure of Christ, and the Jews of God's people or
-church; and that as the Jews were saved by Mordecai, so the church
-is saved by Christ; this makes for me; for then, by that reason, the
-spiritual circumcision, or people of Christ, are not to receive and
-bow to the fashions and customs of the spiritual uncircumcision, who
-are the children of the world; of which such as were condemnable
-so long ago in the time of the type and figure, can by no means be
-justifiably received or practised in the time of the antitype or
-substance itself. On the contrary, this shows expressly, we are
-faithfully to decline such worldly customs, and not to fashion
-ourselves according to the conversation of earthly-minded people;
-but be renewed and changed in our ways, and keep close to our
-Mordecai; who having not bowed, we must not bow, that are his people
-and followers. And whatever be our sufferings or reproaches, they
-will have an end: Mordecai, our captain, that appears for his people
-throughout all the provinces, in the king's gate, will deliver us at
-last; and, for his sake, we shall be favoured and loved of the king
-himself too. So powerful is faithful Mordecai at last. Therefore let
-us all look to Jesus, our Mordecai, the Israel indeed; He that has
-power with God, and would not bow in the hour of temptation, but has
-mightily prevailed; and therefore is a Prince for ever, and "of his
-government there shall be no end." (Isa. ix. 7.)
-
-XXXI. The next Scripture instance I urge against these customs, is a
-passage in Job, thus expressed: "Let me not, I pray you, accept any
-man's person; neither let me give flattering titles unto man, for I
-know not to give flattering titles; in so doing, my Maker would soon
-take me away." (Job, xxxii. 21, 22.) The question that will arise
-upon the allegation of this Scripture is this, viz. What titles are
-flattering? The answer is as obvious, namely, Such as are empty and
-fictitious, and make him more than he is: as to call a man what he
-is not, to please him; or to exalt him beyond his true name, office,
-or desert, to gain upon his affections; who, it may be, lusteth to
-honour and respect: such as these,--most excellent, most sacred,
-your grace, your lordship, most dread majesty, right honourable,
-right worshipful, may it please your majesty, your grace, your
-lordship, your honour, your worship, and the like unnecessary titles
-and attributes, calculated only to please and tickle poor, proud,
-vain, yet mortal man. Likewise to call man what he is not, as my
-lord, my master, &c., and wise, just, or good, when he is neither,
-only to please him, or show him respect.
-
-It was familiar thus to do among the Jews, under their degeneracy;
-wherefore one came to Christ, and said, "Good master, what shall I
-do to have eternal life?" (Luke, xviii. 18.) It was a salutation or
-address of respect in those times. It is familiar now: good my lord,
-good sir, good master, do this, or do that. But what was Christ's
-answer? how did he take it? "Why callest thou me good?" says Christ;
-"there is none good, save one, that is God." (Verse 19.) He rejected
-it that had more right to keep it than all mankind: and why? Because
-there was one greater than he; and that he saw the man addressed it
-to his manhood, after the way of the times, and not to his divinity
-which dwelt within it: therefore Christ refuses it, showing and
-instructing us that we should not give such epithets and titles
-commonly to men; for good being due alone to God and godliness, it
-can only be said in flattery to fallen man, and therefore sinful to
-be so said.
-
-This plain and exact life well became Him, that was on purpose
-manifested to return and restore man from his lamentable degeneracy,
-to the innocency and purity of his first creation; who has taught
-us to be careful how we use and give attributes unto man by that
-most severe saying, "That every idle word that man shall speak, he
-shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment." (Matt. xii.
-3, 6.) And that which should warn all men of the latitude they take
-herein, and sufficiently justifies our tenderness is this, That man
-can scarcely commit greater injury and offence against Almighty God,
-than to ascribe any of his attributes unto man, the creature of his
-word, and the work of his hands. He is a jealous God of his honour,
-and will not give his glory unto another. Besides, it is so near
-the sin of the aspiring fallen angels, that affected to be greater
-and better than they were made and stated by the great Lord of all,
-and to entitle man to a station above his make and orb, looks so
-like idolatry (the unpardonable sin under the law) that it is hard
-to think how men and women professing Christianity, and seriously
-reflecting upon their vanity and evil in these things, can continue
-in them, much less plead for them; and least of all reproach and
-deride those that through tenderness of conscience cannot use and
-give them. It seems that Elihu did not dare to do it; but put such
-weight upon the matter as to give this for one reason for his
-forbearance, to wit, lest my Maker should soon take me away: that
-is, for fear God should strike me dead, I dare not give man titles
-that are above him, or titles merely to please him. I may not, by
-any means, gratify that spirit which lusteth after such things. God
-is to be exalted, and man abased. God is jealous of man's being
-set higher than his station: he will have him keep his place, know
-his original, and remember the rock from whence he came: that what
-he has is borrowed; not his own but his Maker's, who brought him
-forth and sustained him; which man is very apt to forget: and lest I
-should be accessory to it by flattering titles, instead of telling
-him truly and plainly what he is, and using them as he ought to be
-treated, and thereby provoke my Maker to displeasure, and he in his
-anger and jealousy should take me soon away, or bring sudden death
-and an untimely end upon me, I dare not use, I dare not give such
-titles unto men.
-
-XXXII. But if we had not this to allege from the Old Testament
-writings, it should and ought to suffice with Christians, that
-these customs are severely censured by the great Lord and Master
-of their religion; who is so far from putting people upon giving
-honour one to another, that he will not indulge them in it, whatever
-be the customs of the country they live in: for he charges it upon
-the Jews as a mark of their apostasy; "How can ye believe which
-receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh
-from God only?" where their infidelity concerning Christ is made
-the effect of seeking worldly, and not heavenly honour only. And
-the thing is not hard to apprehend, if we consider that self-love
-and desire of honour from men is inconsistent with the love and
-humility of Christ. They sought the good opinion and respect of the
-world; how then was it possible they should leave all and follow
-him, whose kingdom is not of this world; and that came in a way so
-cross to the mind and humour of it? And that this was the meaning
-of our Lord Jesus is plain: for he tells us what that honour was
-they gave and received, which he condemned them for, and of which
-he bid the disciples of his humility and cross beware. His words
-are these, and he speaks them not of the rabble but of the doctors,
-the great men, the men of honour among the Jews: "They love," says
-he, "the uppermost rooms at feasts," (Matt. xxiii. 6,) "that is,
-places of greatest rank and respect; and greetings," (Mark, xii.
-38,) that is, salutations of respect, such as pulling off the hat,
-and bowing the body are in our age, in the market-places, viz. in
-the places of note and concourse, the public walks and exchanges of
-the country. And lastly, "they love," says Christ, "to be called of
-men, Rabbi, Rabbi:" one of the most eminent titles among the Jews. A
-word comprehending an excellency equal to many titles: it may stand
-for your grace, your lordship, right reverend father, &c. It is
-upon these men of breeding and quality that he pronounces his woes,
-making these practices some of the evil marks by which to know them,
-as well as some of the motives of his threatenings against them. But
-he leaves it not here: he pursues this very point of honour above
-all the rest in his caution to his disciples; to whom he gave in
-charge thus: "But be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your Master,
-even Christ, and all ye are brethren." (Matt. xviii. 8, 10-12.)
-"Neither be ye called Masters; but he that is greatest amongst you
-shall be your servant: and whoever shall exalt himself shall be
-abased." Plain it is that these passages carry a severe rebuke, both
-to worldly honour in general, and to those members and expressions
-of it in particular, which, as near as the language of Scripture and
-customs of that age will permit, do distinctly reach and allude to
-those of our own time; for the declining of which we have suffered
-so much scorn and abuse, both in our persons and estates; God
-forgive the unreasonable authors of it!
-
-XXXIII. The apostle Paul has a saying of great weight and fervency,
-in his epistle to the Romans, very agreeable to this doctrine of
-Christ; it is this: "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the
-mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
-holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service; and be
-not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing
-of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, that acceptable,
-and perfect will of God." (Rom. xii. 1, 2.) He wrote to a people,
-in the midst of the ensnaring pomp and glory of the world. Rome was
-the seat of Cæsar, and the empire; the mistress of invention. Her
-fashions, as those of France now, were as laws to the world, at
-least at Rome: whence it is proverbial, _Cum fueris Romæ, Romano
-vivito more_. "When thou art at Rome, thou must do as Rome does."
-But the apostle is of another mind; he warns the Christians of
-that city, that they be not conformed; that is, that they do not
-follow the vain fashions and customs of this world, but leave them.
-The emphasis lies upon this, as well as upon conformed; and it
-imports, that this world, which they were not to conform to, was the
-corrupt and degenerate condition of mankind in that age. Wherefore
-the apostle proceeds to exhort those believers, and that by the
-mercies of God, the most powerful and winning of all arguments, that
-they would be transformed; that is, changed from the way of life
-customary among the Romans; and prove what is that acceptable will
-of God. As if he had said, Examine what you do and practise; see if
-it be right, and that it please God; call every thought, word, and
-action to judgment; (John, iii. 21;) try whether they are wrought in
-God or not; that so you may prove or know, what is that good, and
-acceptable, and perfect will of God.
-
-XXXIV. The next scripture authority we appeal to, in our
-vindication, is a passage of the apostle Peter, in his first
-epistle written to the believing strangers throughout the countries
-of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia; which were the
-churches of Christ Jesus in those parts of the world, gathered by
-his power and spirit: it is this; "Gird up the loins of your minds;
-be sober and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought
-unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children,
-not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your
-ignorance." (1 Pet. i. 13, 14.) That is, be not found in the vain
-fashions and customs of the world, unto which you conformed in
-your former ignorance; but as you have believed in a more plain
-and excellent way, so be sober and fervent, and hope to the end:
-do not give out; let them mock on; bear ye the contradiction of
-sinners constantly, as obedient children, that you may receive the
-kindness of God, at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And therefore
-does the apostle call them strangers, a figurative speech, people
-estranged from the customs of the world, of new faith and manners;
-and so unknown of the world: and if such strangers, then not to be
-fashioned or conformed to their pleasing respects and honours, whom
-they were estranged from: because the strangeness lay in leaving
-that which was customary and familiar to them before. The following
-words, verse 17, prove he used the word strangers in a spiritual
-sense; "Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear;" that is,
-pass the time of your being as strangers on earth in fear; not after
-the fashions of the world. A word in the next chapter, further
-explains his sense, where he tells the believers, that they are a
-peculiar people; to wit, a distinct, a singular and separate people
-from the rest of the world: not any longer to fashion themselves
-according to their customs. But I do not know how that could be, if
-they were to live in communion with the world, in its respects and
-honours; for that is not to be a peculiar or separate people from
-them, but to be like them, because conformable to them.
-
-XXXV. I shall conclude my scripture testimonies against the
-foregoing respects, with that memorable and close passage of the
-apostle James against respect of persons in general after the
-world's fashion: "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus
-Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons: for if there
-come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel:
-and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment, and ye have
-respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him,
-Sit thou here in a good place, (or well and seemly, as the word
-is;) and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my
-footstool; are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become
-judges of evil thoughts?" (James, ii. 1-4.) That is, they knew they
-did amiss: "If ye fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture,
-Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well; but if ye
-have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the
-law as transgressors." (James, ii. 8, 9.) This is so full there
-seems nothing left for me to add, or others to object. We are not
-to respect persons, that is the first thing: and the next thing
-is, if we do we commit sin, and break the law; At our own peril be
-it. And yet perhaps some will say, that by this we overthrow all
-distinction amongst men, under their divers qualities, and introduce
-a reciprocal and relational respect in the room of it: but if it be
-so, I cannot help it, the apostle James must answer for it, who has
-given us this doctrine for Christian and apostolical. And yet one
-greater than he told his disciples, of whom James was one, "Ye know
-that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, &c.
-But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be chief among
-you, let him be your servant." (Mat. xx. 25-27.) That is, he that
-affects rule, and seeks to be uppermost, shall be esteemed least
-among you. And to say true on the whole matter, whether we regard
-those early times of the world, that were antecedent to the coming
-of Christ or soon after, there was yet a greater simplicity than
-in the times in which we are fallen. For those early times of the
-world, as bad as they were in other things, were great strangers to
-the frequency of these follies: nay, they hardly used some of them,
-at least very rarely. For if we read the Scriptures, such a thing
-as my lord Adam, though lord of the world, is not to be found: nor
-my lord Noah neither, the second lord of the earth: nor yet my lord
-Abraham, the father of the faithful; nor my lord Isaac; nor my lord
-Jacob; but much less is my lord Paul, &c. to be found in the Bible:
-and less your holiness, or your grace. Nay, among the Gentiles, the
-people wore their own names with more simplicity, and used not the
-ceremony of speech that is now practised among Christians, nor yet
-anything like it. My lord Solon, my lord Phocion, my lord Plato,
-my lord Aristotle, my lord Scipio, my lord Fabius, my lord Cato,
-my lord Cicero, are not to be read in any of the Greek or Latin
-stories, and yet they were some of the sages and heroes of those
-great empires. No, their own names were enough to distinguish them
-from other men, and their virtue and employments in the public
-service were their titles of honour. Nor has this vanity yet crept
-far into the Latin writers, where it is familiar for authors to cite
-the most learned and the most noble, without any addition to their
-names, unless worthy or learned: and if their works give it them, we
-make no conscience to deny it them. For instance; the Fathers they
-only cite thus: Polycarpus, Ignatius, Irenæus, Cyprian, Tertullian,
-Origen, Arnobius, Lactantius, Chrysostom, Jerom, &c. More modern
-writers; Damascen, Rabanus, Paschasius, Theophylact, Bernard, &c.
-And of the last age, Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, Beza, Zuinglius,
-Marlorat, Vossius, Grotius, Dalleus, Amyralldus, &c. And of our own
-country, Gildas, Beda, Alcuinus, Horn, Bracton, Grosteed, Littleton,
-Cranmer, Ridley, Jewel, Whitaker, Seldon, &c. And yet I presume this
-will not be thought uncivil or rude. Why then is our simplicity (and
-so honestly grounded too, as conscience against pride in man, that
-so evilly and perniciously loves and seeks worship and greatness) so
-much despised and abused, and that by professed Christians too, who
-take themselves to be the followers of Him, that has forbidden these
-foolish customs, as plainly as any other impiety condemned in his
-doctrine? I earnestly beg the lovers, users, and expecters of these
-ceremonies, to let this I have written have some consideration and
-weight with them.
-
-XXXVI. However, Christians are not so ill-bred as the world think;
-for they show respect too: but the difference between them lies in
-the nature of the respect they perform, and the reasons of it. The
-world's respect is an empty ceremony, no soul nor substance in it:
-the Christian's is a solid thing, whether by obedience to superiors,
-love to equals, or help and countenance to inferiors. Next, their
-reasons and motives to honour and respect, are as wide one from
-the other: for fine apparel, empty titles, or large revenues are
-the world's motives, being things her children worship: but the
-Christian's motives are the sense of his duty in God's sight; first
-to parents and magistrates; and then to inferior relations: and
-lastly to all people, according to their virtue, wisdom, and piety;
-which is far from respect to the mere persons of men, or having
-their persons in admiration for reward: much less on such mean and
-base motives as wealth and sumptuous raiment.
-
-XXXVII. We shall easily grant, our honour, as our religion, is more
-hidden; and that neither are so discernible by worldly men, nor
-grateful to them. Our plainness is odd, uncouth, and goes mightily
-against the grain; but so does Christianity too, and that for the
-same reasons. But had not the Heathen spirit prevailed too long
-under a Christian profession, it would not be so hard to discern the
-right from the wrong. O that Christians would look upon themselves
-with the glass of righteousness; that which tells true, and gives
-them an exact knowledge of themselves! And then let them examine,
-what in them, and about them, agrees with Christ's doctrine and
-life; and they may soon resolve, whether they are real Christians,
-or but Heathens christened with the name of Christians.
-
-
-SOME TESTIMONIES FROM ANCIENT AND MODERN WRITERS IN FAVOUR OF OUR
-BEHAVIOUR.
-
-XXXVIII. Marlorat, out of Luther and Calvin, upon that remarkable
-passage I just now urged from the apostle James, gives us the sense
-those primitive reformers had of respect to persons in these words,
-viz. 'To respect persons here, is to have regard to the habit and
-garb: the apostle signifies, that such respecting of persons is so
-contrary to true faith, that they are altogether inconsistent: but
-if the pomp, and other worldly regards prevail, and weaken what is
-of Christ, it is a sign of a decaying faith. Yea, so great is the
-glory and splendour of Christ in a pious soul, that all the glories
-of the world have no charms, no beauty, in comparison of that, unto
-one so righteously inclined. The apostle maketh such respecting of
-persons, to be repugnant to the light within them, insomuch as they
-who follow these practices, are condemned from within themselves.
-So that sanctity ought to be the reason or motive of all outward
-respect; and that none is to be honoured, upon any account but
-holiness.' Thus much Marlorat. But if this be true doctrine, we are
-much in the right in refusing conformity to the vain respects of
-worldly men.
-
-XXXIX. But I shall add to these, the admonition of a learned ancient
-writer, who lived about 1200 years since, of great esteem, namely
-Jerom, who writing to a noble matron, Celantia, directing her how to
-live in the midst of her prosperity and honours, amongst many other
-religious instructions, speaks thus: 'Heed not thy nobility, nor let
-that be a reason for thee to take place of any; esteem not those of
-a meaner extraction to be thy inferiors; for our religion admits of
-no respect of persons, nor doth it induce us to repute men, from
-any external condition, but from their inward frame and disposition
-of mind: it is hereby that we pronounce men noble or base. With
-God, not to serve sin is to be free; and to excel in virtue is to
-be noble. God has chosen the mean and contemptible of this world,
-whereby to humble the great ones. Besides, it is a folly for any
-to boast his gentility, since all are equally esteemed by God. The
-ransom of the poor and rich cost Christ an equal expense of blood.
-Nor is it material in what state a man is born; the new creature
-hath no distinction. But if we will forget how we all descended from
-one Father; we ought at least perpetually to remember that we have
-but one Saviour.'
-
-XL. But since I am engaged against these fond and fruitless customs,
-the proper effects and delights of vain and proud minds, let me
-yet add one memorable passage more, as it is related by the famous
-Casaubon, in his discourse of Use and Custom, where he briefly
-reports, what passed between Sulpitius Severus and Paulinus, bishop
-of Nola, (but such an one as gave all to redeem captives; whilst
-others of that function, that they may show who is their master, are
-making many both beggars and captives, by countenancing the plunder
-and imprisonment of Christians, for pure conscience to God); he
-brings it in thus: 'He is not counted a civil man now, of late years
-amongst us, who thinks it much, or refuseth to subscribe himself
-servant, though it be to his equal or inferior.' Yet Sulpitius
-Severus was once sharply chid by Paulinus for subscribing himself
-his servant, in a letter of his, saying, 'Take heed hereafter,
-how thou being from a servant called into liberty, dost subscribe
-thyself servant unto one who is thy brother and fellow-servant; for
-it is a sinful flattery, not a testimony of humility, to pay those
-honours to a man, and a sinner, which are due to the one Lord, and
-one Master, and one God.' By this we may see the sense of some of
-the more apostolical bishops, about the civilities and fashions
-so much reputed with people that call themselves Christians and
-bishops, and who would be thought their successors. It was then a
-sin, it is now an accomplishment: it was then a flattery, it is now
-respect: it was then fit to be severely reproved; and now, alas!
-it is to deserve severe reproof not to use it. O monstrous vanity!
-How much, how deeply, have those who are called Christians revolted
-from the plainness of the primitive days, and practice of holy men
-and women in former ages! How are they become degenerated into the
-loose, proud, and wanton customs of the world, which knows not God;
-to whom use hath made these things, condemned by scripture, reason,
-and example, almost natural! And so insensible are they of both
-their cause and bad effects, that they not only continue to practise
-them, but plead for them, and unchristianly make a very mock of
-those who cannot imitate them. But I shall proceed to what remains
-yet further to be said in our defence, for declining another custom,
-which helps to make us so much the stumbling-block of this light,
-vain, and inconsiderate age.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
-     1. Another piece of nonconformity to the world, which is our
-     simple and plain speech, thou for you.--2. Justified from the
-     use of words and numbers, singular and plural.--3. It was,
-     and is the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin speech, in schools and
-     universities.--4. It is the language of all nations.--5. The
-     original of the present customs defends our disuse of it.--6.
-     If custom should prevail, in a sense it would be on our
-     side.--7. It cannot be uncivil or improper, for God himself,
-     the fathers, prophets, Christ, and his apostles used it.--8. An
-     instance given in the case of Peter, in the palace of the high
-     priest.--9. It is the practice of men to God in their prayers:
-     the pride of man to expect better to himself.--10. Testimonies
-     of several writers in vindication of us.--11. The Author's
-     convictions; and his exhortation to his reader.
-
-
-I. There is another piece of our nonconformity to the world, that
-renders us very clownish to the breeding of it, and that is, _thou_
-for _you_, and that without difference or respect to persons: a
-thing that to some looks so rude it cannot well go down without
-derision or wrath. But as we have the same original reason for
-declining this, as the foregoing customs, so I shall add, what to me
-looks reasonable in our defence; though it is very probable height
-of mind, in some of those that blame us, will very hardly allow them
-to believe that the word reasonable is reconcileable with so silly a
-practice as this is esteemed.
-
-II. Words of themselves are but as so many marks set and employed
-for necessary and intelligible mediums, or means, whereby men may
-understandingly express their minds and conceptions to each other:
-from whence comes conversation. Now, though the world be divided
-into many nations, each of which, for the most part, has a peculiar
-language, speech, or dialect, yet have they ever concurred in the
-same numbers and persons, as much of the ground of right speech.
-For instance; _I love_, _thou lovest_, _he loveth_, are of singular
-number, importing but one whether in the first, second, or third
-person: also _we love_, _ye love_, _they love_, are of the plural
-number, because in each is implied more than one. Which undeniable
-grammatical rule, might be enough to satisfy any, that have not
-forgotten their accidence, that we are not beside reason in our
-practice. For if _thou lovest_, be singular, and _you love_, be
-plural; and if _thou lovest_, signifies but one; and _you love_,
-many; is it not as proper to say, _thou lovest_, to ten men, as to
-say, _you love_, to _one_ man? Or, why not, _I love_, for _we love_;
-and _we love_, instead of _I love_? Doubtless it is the same, though
-most improper, and in speech ridiculous.
-
-III. Our next reason is; if it be improper or uncivil speech, as
-termed by this vain age, how comes it that the Hebrew, Greek, and
-Roman authors, used in schools and universities, have no other? Why
-should they not be a rule in that, as well as other things? And why,
-I pray then, are we so ridiculous for being thus far grammatical? Is
-it reasonable that children should be whipped at school for putting
-you for thou, as having made false Latin; and yet that we must be,
-though not whipped, reproached, and often abused, when we use the
-contrary propriety of speech?
-
-IV. But in the third place, it is neither improper nor uncivil,
-but much otherwise; because it is used in all languages, speeches,
-and dialects, and that through all ages. This is very plain: as
-for example, it was God's language when he first spake to Adam,
-viz. Hebrew: also it is the Assyrian, Chaldean, Grecian and Latin
-speech. And now among the Turks, Tartars, Muscovites, Indians,
-Persians, Italians, Spaniards, French, Dutch, Germans, Polonians,
-Swedes, Danes, Irish, Scotch, Welsh, as well as English there is
-a distinction preserved, and the word _thou_ is not lost in the
-word which goes for _you_. And though some of the modern tongues
-have done as we do, yet upon the same error. But by this it is
-plain, that _thou_ is no upstart, nor yet improper, but the only
-proper word to be used in all languages to a single person;
-because otherwise all sentences, speeches, and discourses may be
-very ambiguous, uncertain, and equivocal. If a jury pronounce a
-verdict or a judge a sentence, three being at the bar, upon three
-occasions, very differently culpable, and should say, You are here
-guilty and to die; or innocent, and discharged: who knows who is
-guilty or innocent? May be but one, perhaps two; or it may be, all
-three: therefore our indictments run in the singular number, as
-Hold up thy hand: thou art indicted by the name of, &c., for that
-thou, not having the fear of God, &c. And it holds the same in
-all conversation. Nor can this be avoided but by many unnecessary
-circumlocutions. And as the preventing of such length and obscurity
-was doubtless the first reason for the distinction, so cannot that
-be justly disused till the reason be first removed; which can never
-be whilst two are in the world.
-
-V. But this is not all; it was first ascribed in way of flattery to
-proud popes and emperors, imitating the heathens' vain homage to
-their gods; thereby ascribing a plural honour to a single person:
-as if one pope had been made up of many gods, and one emperor of
-many men; for which reason, _you_ only to be used to many, became
-first spoken to one. It seems the word _thou_ looked like too lean
-and thin a respect; and therefore, some bigger than they should
-be, would have a style suitable to their own ambition: a ground
-we cannot build our practice on; for what began it only loves it
-still. But supposing _you_ to be proper to a prince, it will not
-follow it is to a common person. For his edict runs, _We will and
-require_, because, perhaps, in conjunction with his council: and
-therefore _you_ to a private person is an abuse of the word. But as
-pride first gave it birth, so hath she only promoted it. Monsieur,
-sir, and madam, were originally names given to none but the king,
-his brother, and their wives, both in France and England; yet now
-the ploughman in France is called monsieur, and his wife madame: and
-men of ordinary trades in England, sir, and their wives, dame; which
-is the legal title of a lady, or else mistress, which is the same
-with madame in French. So prevalent hath pride and flattery been in
-all ages, the one to give and the other to receive respects, as they
-term it.
-
-VI. But some will tell us, custom should rule us; and that is
-against us. But it is easily answered, and more truly, that though
-in things reasonable or indifferent, custom is obliging or harmless,
-yet in things unreasonable or unlawful, she has no authority. For
-custom can no more change numbers than genders, nor yoke _one_
-and _you_ together, than make a man into a woman, or one into a
-thousand. But if custom be to conclude us, it is for us; for as
-custom is nothing more than ancient usage, I appeal to the practice
-of mankind, from the beginning of the world, through all nations,
-against the novelty of this confusion, viz. _you_ to one person. Let
-custom, which is ancient practice and fact, issue this question.
-Mistake me not: I know words are nothing, but as men give them a
-value or force by use; but then, if you will discharge _thou_, and
-that _you_ must succeed in its place, let us have a distinguishing
-word instead of _you_ to be used in speech to many: but to use the
-same word for one and many, when there are two, and that only to
-please a proud and haughty humour in man, is not reasonable in our
-sense: which we hope is Christian, though not modish.
-
-VII. But if _thou_ to a single person be improper or uncivil, God
-himself, all the holy fathers and prophets, Christ Jesus, and his
-apostles, the primitive saints, all languages throughout the world,
-and our own law proceedings are guilty; which, with submission, were
-great presumption to imagine. Besides, we all know it is familiar
-with most of our authors to preface their discourses to the reader
-in the same language of thee and thou: as, Reader, thou art desired,
-&c. Or, Reader, this is written to inform thee of the occasion,
-&c. And it cannot be denied, that the most famous poems, dedicated
-to love or majesty, are written in this style. Read of each in
-Chaucer, Spenser, Waller, Cowley, Dryden, &c. Why then should it be
-so homely, ill-bred, and insufferable in us? This, I conceive, can
-never be answered.
-
-VIII. I doubt not at all that something altogether as singular
-attended the speech of Christ and his disciples: for I remember it
-was urged upon Peter in the high priest's palace, as a proof of his
-belonging to Jesus, when he denied his Lord: "Surely," said they,
-"thou art also one of them: for thy speech bewrayeth thee." (Matt.
-xxvi. 73.) They had guessed by his looks but just before that he had
-been with Jesus; but when they discoursed with him, his language put
-them all out of doubt: surely then he was one of them, and he had
-been with Jesus. Something it was he had learned in his company that
-was odd and observable; to be sure, not of the world's behaviour.
-Without question, the garb, gait, and speech of his followers
-differed, as well as his doctrine, from the world; for it was a part
-of his doctrine it should be so. It is easy to believe they were
-more plain, grave, and precise, which is more credible from the way
-which poor, confident, fearful Peter took to disguise the business;
-for he fell to cursing and swearing--a sad shift. But he thought
-that the likeliest way to remove the suspicion, that was most unlike
-Christ. And the policy took; for it silenced their objections, and
-Peter was as orthodox as they. But though they found him not out,
-the cock's crow did; which made Peter remember his dear suffering
-Lord's words: and he went forth, and wept bitterly; that he had
-denied his Master, who was then delivered up to die for him.
-
-IX. But our last reason is of most weight with me, and because
-_argumentum ad hominem_, it is most heavy with our despisers, which
-is this: it should not therefore be urged upon us, because it is a
-most extravagant piece of pride in a mortal man to require or expect
-from his fellow-creature a more civil speech or grateful language,
-than he is wont to give to the immortal God and his Creator in all
-his worship to him. Art thou, O man, greater than he that made thee?
-Canst thou approach the God of thy breath and great Judge of thy
-life with _thou_ and _thee_, and when thou risest off thy knees,
-scorn a Christian for giving to thee, poor mushroom of the earth,
-no better language than thou hast given to God but just before? An
-arrogancy not to be easily equalled! But again, it has either too
-much or too little respect; if too much, do not reproach and be
-angry, but gravely and humbly refuse it; if too little, why dost
-thou show to God no more? O whither is man gone! To what a pitch
-does he soar! He would be used more civilly by us than he uses God;
-which is to have us make more than a God of him: but he shall want
-worshippers of us, as well as he wants the divinity in himself
-that deserves to be worshipped. Certain we are, that the Spirit
-of God seeks not these respects, much less pleads for them, or
-would be wroth with any that conscientiously refuse to give them.
-But that this vain generation is guilty of using them, to gratify
-a vain mind, is too palpable. What capping, what cringing, what
-scraping, what vain, unmeant words, most hyperbolical expressions,
-compliments, gross flatteries, and plain lies, under the name of
-civilities, are men and women guilty of in conversation! Ah! my
-friends! whence fetch you these examples? What part of all the
-writings of the holy men of God warrants these things? But, to
-come nearer to your own profession, is Christ your example herein,
-whose name you pretend to bear; or those saints of old that lived
-in desolate places, of whom the world was not worthy: (Heb. xi.
-38:) or do you think you follow the practice of those Christians
-that, in obedience to their Master's life and doctrine, forsook the
-respect of persons, and relinquished the fashions, honour, and glory
-of this transitory world; whose qualifications lay not in external
-gestures, respects, and compliments, but in a meek and quiet spirit,
-(1 Pet. iii. 4,) adorned with temperance, virtue, modesty, gravity,
-patience, and brotherly kindness; which were the tokens of true
-honour, and only badges of respect and nobility in those Christian
-times? O no. But is it not to expose ourselves both to your contempt
-and fury, that we imitate them, and not you? And tell us, pray, are
-not romances, plays, masks, gaming, fiddlers, &c. the entertainments
-that most delight you? Had you the spirit of Christianity indeed,
-could you consume your most precious little time in so many
-unnecessary visits, games, and pastimes; in your vain compliments,
-courtships, feigned stories, flatteries, and fruitless novelties,
-and what not; invented and used to your diversion, to make you easy
-in your forgetfulness of God: which never was the Christian way of
-living, but entertainment of the heathens that knew not God? Oh!
-were you truly touched with a sense of your sins, and in any measure
-born again; did you take up the cross of Jesus and live under it,
-these, which so much please your wanton and sensual nature, would
-find no place with you. This is not seeking the things that are
-above, (Col. iii. 1,) to have the heart thus set on things that are
-below; nor working out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
-to spend your days in vanity. This is not crying with Elihu, "I
-know not to give flattering titles to men; for in so doing my Maker
-would soon take me away." This is not to deny self, and lay up a
-more hidden and enduring substance, an eternal inheritance in the
-heavens, that will not pass away. Well, my friends, whatever you
-think, your plea of custom will find no place at God's tribunal:
-the light of Christ in your own hearts will overrule it; and this
-Spirit, against which we testify, shall then appear to be what we
-say it is. Say not I am serious about slight things; but beware you
-of levity in serious things.
-
-X. Before I close, I shall add a few testimonies from men of
-general credit, in favour of our nonconformity to the world in this
-particular.
-
-Luther, the great reformer, whose sayings were oracles with the
-age he lived in, and of no less reputation now, with many that
-object against us, was so far from condemning our plain speech,
-that in his Ludus, he sports himself with _you_ to a single person
-as an incongruous and ridiculous speech, viz. _Magister, vos estis
-iratus?_ Master, are you angry? As absurd with him in Latin, as My
-masters, art thou angry? is in English. Erasmus, a learned man,
-and an exact critic in speech, than whom I know not any we may so
-properly refer the grammar of the matter to, not only derides it,
-but bestows a whole discourse upon rendering it absurd: plainly
-manifesting that it is impossible to preserve numbers if _you_, the
-only word for more than one, be used to express _one_: as also, that
-the original of this corruption was the corruption of flattery.
-Lipsius affirms of the ancient Romans, "That the manner of greeting
-now in vogue was not in use amongst them." To conclude: Howel,
-in his History of France, gives us an ingenious account of its
-original; where he not only assures us, "That anciently the peasants
-thou'd their kings, but that pride and flattery first put inferiors
-upon paying a plural respect to the single person of every superior,
-and superiors upon receiving it." And though we had not the practice
-of God and man so undeniably to justify our plain and homely speech,
-yet, since we are persuaded that its original was from pride and
-flattery, we cannot in conscience use it. And however we may be
-censured as singular by those loose and airy minds, that through
-the continual love of earthly pleasures, consider not the true rise
-and tendency of words and things; yet to us whom God has convinced
-by his light and Spirit in our hearts of the folly and evil of such
-courses, and brought into a spiritual discerning of the nature and
-ground of the world's fashions, they appear to be fruits of pride
-and flattery; and we dare not continue in such vain compliances to
-earthly minds, lest we offend God, and burden our consciences. But
-having been sincerely affected with the reproofs of instruction,
-and our hearts being brought into a watchful subjection to the
-righteous law of JESUS, so as to bring our deeds to the light,
-(John, iii. 19-21,) to see in whom they are wrought, if in God or
-not; we cannot, we dare not conform ourselves to the fashions of the
-world that pass away; knowing assuredly, that "for every idle word
-that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of
-judgment." (Matt. xii. 36.)
-
-XI. Wherefore, reader, whether thou art a night-walking Nicodemus,
-or a scoffing scribe; one that would visit the blessed Messiah,
-but in the dark customs of the world, that thou mightest pass as
-undiscerned, for fear of bearing his reproachful cross; or else
-a favourer of Haman's pride, and countest these testimonies but
-a foolish singularity; I must say, Divine love enjoins me to be
-a messenger of truth to thee, and a faithful witness against the
-evil of this degenerate world, as in other, so in these things; in
-which the spirit of vanity and lust hath got so great a head, and
-lived so long uncontrolled, that it hath impudence enough to term
-its darkness light, and to call its evil offspring by the names
-due to a better nature, the more easily to deceive people into the
-practice of them. And truly, so very blind and insensible are most
-of what spirit they are, and ignorant of the meek and self-denying
-life of holy Jesus, whose name they profess; that to call each other
-Rabbi, that is, master; to bow to men, which I call worship; and
-to greet with flattering titles, and to do their fellow-creatures
-homage; to scorn that language to themselves that they give to God,
-and to spend their time and estate to gratify their wanton minds;
-the customs of the Gentiles, that knew not God, pass with them for
-civility, good-breeding, decency, recreation, accomplishments, &c.
-O that man would consider, since there are but two spirits, one
-good, the other evil, which of them it is that inclines the world
-to these things; and whether it be Nicodemus or Mordecai in thee,
-that doth befriend these despised Christians, which makes thee
-ashamed to disown that openly in conversation with the world, which
-the true light hath made vanity and sin to thee in secret! Or if
-thou art a despiser, tell me, I pray thee, what dost thou think thy
-mockery, anger, or contempt dost most resemble, proud Haman, or
-good Mordecai? My friend, know that no man hath more delighted in,
-or been prodigal of those vanities called civilities than myself;
-and could I have covered my conscience under the fashions of the
-world, truly I had found a shelter from showers of reproach that
-have fallen very often and thick upon me; but had I, with Joseph,
-conformed to Egypt's customs, I had sinned against my God and lost
-my peace. But I would not have thee think it is a mere _thou_ or
-_title_ simply or nakedly in themselves we boggle at, or that we
-would beget or set up any form inconsistent with sincerity or true
-civility: there is but too much of that; but the esteem and value
-the vain minds of men do put upon them, that ought to be crossed and
-stripped of their delights, constrains us to testify so steadily
-against them. And this know, from the sense God's Holy Spirit hath
-begotten in us, that that which requires these customs, and begets
-fear to leave them, and pleads for them, and is displeased, if not
-used and paid, is the spirit of pride and flattery in the ground;
-though frequency, use, or generosity may have abated its strength in
-some: and this being discovered by the light that now shines from
-heaven in the hearts of the despised Christians I have communion
-with, necessitates them to this testimony; and myself, as one of
-them and for them, in a reproof of the unfaithful, who would walk
-undiscerned, though convinced to the contrary; and for an allay to
-the proud despisers, who scorn us as a people guilty of affectation
-and singularity. For the eternal God, who is great amongst us,
-and on his way in the earth to make his power known, will root up
-every plant that his right hand hath not planted. Wherefore let me
-beseech thee, reader, to consider the foregoing reasons, which were
-mostly given me from the Lord, in that time, when my condescension
-to these fashions would have been purchased at almost any rate;
-but the certain sense I had of their contrariety to the meek and
-self-denying life of holy JESUS, required of me my disuse of them,
-and faithful testimony against them. I speak the truth in Christ;
-I lie not: I would not have brought myself under censure and
-disdain for them, could I, with peace of conscience, have kept my
-belief under a worldly behaviour. It was extremely irksome to me
-to decline, and expose myself; but having an assured and repeated
-sense of the original of these vain customs, that they rise from
-pride, self-love, and flattery, I dared not gratify that mind in
-myself or others. And for this reason it is, that I am earnest with
-my readers to be cautious how they reprove us on this occasion;
-and do once more entreat them that they would seriously weigh in
-themselves, whether it be the spirit of the world or of the Father,
-that is so angry with our honest, plain, and harmless _thou_ and
-_thee_: that so every plant that God our heavenly Father hath not
-planted in the sons and daughters of men may be rooted up.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
-     1. Pride leads people to an excessive value of their
-     persons.--2. It is plain, from the racket that is made about
-     blood and families: also in the case of shape and beauty.--3.
-     Blood no nobility, but virtue.--4. Virtue no upstart: antiquity
-     no nobility without it, else age and blood would bar virtue in
-     the present age.--5. God teaches the true sense of nobility,
-     who made of one blood all nations; there is the original of
-     all blood.--6. These men of blood, out of their feathers, look
-     like other men.--7. This is not said to reject, but humble
-     the gentleman: the advantages of that condition above others.
-     An exhortation to recover their lost economy in families,
-     out of interest and credit.--8. But the author has a higher
-     motive; the gospel, and the excellencies of it, which they
-     profess.--9. The pride of persons respecting shape and beauty:
-     the washes, patches, paintings, dresses, &c. This excess would
-     keep the poor: the mischiefs that attend it.--10. But pride
-     in the old and homely yet more hateful: that it is usual. The
-     madness of it. Counsel to the beautiful to get their souls like
-     their bodies; and to the homely to supply want of that in the
-     adornment of their lasting part, their souls, with holiness.
-     Nothing homely with God but sin. The blessedness of those that
-     wear Christ's yoke and cross, and are crucified to the world.
-
-
-I. But pride stops not here; she excites people to an excessive
-value and care of their persons: they must have great and punctual
-attendance, stately furniture, rich and exact apparel. All which
-help to make up that pride of life that John tells us is not of
-the Father, but of the world. (1 John, ii. 16.) A sin God charged
-upon the haughty daughters of Zion, (Isaiah, iii.) and on the proud
-prince and people of Tyrus. (Ezek. xxvii. xxviii.) Read these
-chapters, and measure this age by their sins, and what is coming on
-these nations by their judgments. But at the present I shall only
-touch upon the first, viz. the excessive value people have of their
-persons; leaving the rest to be considered under the last head of
-this discourse, which is luxury, where they may be not improperly
-placed.
-
-II. That people are generally proud of their persons is too visible
-and troublesome; especially if they have any pretence either to
-blood or beauty; the one has raised many quarrels among men, and the
-other among women, and men too often for their sakes and at their
-excitements. But to the first: What a pother has this noble blood
-made in the world:--antiquity of name or family, whose father, or
-mother, great grandfather, or great grandmother was best descended
-or allied:--what stock or what clan they came of:--what coat of
-arms they gave:--which had, of right, the precedence! But methinks
-nothing of man's folly has less show of reason to palliate it.
-
-III. For, first, what matter is it of whom any one is descended,
-that is not of ill fame: since it is his own virtue that must raise,
-or vice depress him? An ancestor's character is no excuse to a man's
-ill actions, but an aggravation of his degeneracy: and since virtue
-comes not by generation, I neither am the better nor the worse for
-my forefather; to be sure, not in God's account, nor should it be in
-man's. Nobody would endure injuries the easier, or reject favours
-the more, for coming by the hand of a man well or ill descended. I
-confess it were greater honour to have had no blots, and with an
-hereditary estate, to have had a lineal descent or worth; but that
-was never found: no; not in the most blessed of families upon earth,
-I mean Abraham's. To be descended of wealth and titles, fills no
-man's head with brains or heart with truth: those qualities come
-from a higher cause. It is vanity then and most condemnable pride
-for a man of bulk and character to despise another of less size
-in the world and of meaner alliance for want of them: because the
-latter may have the merit, where the former has only the effects
-of it in an ancestor: and though the one be great by means of a
-forefather, the other is so too, but it is by his own: then, pray,
-which is the braver man of the two?
-
-IV. O, says the person proud of blood, It was never a good world
-since we have had so many upstart gentlemen! But what should others
-have said of that man's ancestor, when he started first up into
-the knowledge of the world? For he, and all men and families, aye,
-and all states and kingdoms too, have had their upstarts, that is,
-their beginnings. This is being like the true church, because old,
-not because good: for families to be noble by being old, and not by
-being virtuous. No such matter: it must be age in virtue, or else
-virtue before age; for otherwise a man should be noble by the means
-of his predecessor, and yet the predecessor less noble than he,
-because he was the acquirer: which is a paradox that will puzzle
-all their heraldry to explain. Strange! that they should be more
-noble than their ancestor that got their nobility for them! But if
-this be absurd, as it is, then the upstart is the noble man: the
-man that got it by his virtue; and those are only entitled to his
-honour that are imitators of his virtue: the rest may bear his name
-from his blood, but that is all. If virtue then give nobility, which
-heathens themselves agree, then families are no longer truly noble
-than they are virtuous. And if virtue go not by blood, but by the
-qualifications of the descendants, it follows blood is excluded:
-else blood would bar virtue; and no man that wanted the one, should
-be allowed the benefit of the other: which were to stint and bound
-nobility for want of antiquity, and make virtue useless.
-
-No, let blood and name go together; but pray let nobility and virtue
-keep company, for they are nearest of kin. It is thus profited by
-God himself, that best knows how to apportion things with an equal
-and just hand. He neither likes nor dislikes by descent; nor does He
-regard what people were, but are. He remembers not the righteousness
-of any man that leaves his righteousness; (Ezek. xviii.;) much less
-any unrighteous man for the righteousness of his ancestor.
-
-V. But if these men of blood please to think themselves concerned
-to believe and reverence God in his holy Scriptures, they may learn
-that "in the beginning He made of one blood all nations of men
-to dwell upon all the earth;" (Acts, xvii. 26;) and that we all
-descended from one father and mother. A more certain original than
-the best of us can assign. From thence go down to Noah, who was the
-second planter of the human race, and we are upon some certainty for
-our forefathers. What violence has reaped or virtue merited since,
-and how far we that are alive are concerned in either, will be hard
-for us to determine but a very few ages off us.
-
-VI. But, methinks it should suffice to say, our own eyes see that
-men of blood, out of their gear and trappings, without their
-feathers and finery, have no more marks of honour by nature stamped
-upon them, than their inferior neighbours. Nay, themselves being
-judges, they will frankly tell us, they feel all those passions in
-their blood, that make them like other men, if not further from the
-virtue that truly dignifies. The lamentable ignorance and debauchery
-that now rages among too many of our greater sort of folks, is too
-clear and casting an evidence in the point: and pray tell me of what
-blood are they come?
-
-VII. Howbeit, when I have said all this, I intend not, by debasing
-one false quality, to make insolent another that is not true. I
-would not be thought to set the churl on the present gentleman's
-shoulder; by no means: his rudeness will not mend the matter. But
-what I have written is to give aim to all where true nobility
-dwells, that every one may arrive at it by the ways of virtue
-and goodness. But for all this, I must allow a great advantage
-to the gentleman, and therefore prefer his station: just as the
-apostle Paul, who after he had humbled the Jews, that insulted the
-Christians with their laws and rites, gave them the advantage over
-all other nations in statutes and judgments. I must grant that the
-condition of our great men is much to be preferred to the ranks of
-our inferior people. For, first, they have more power to do good;
-and if their hearts be equal to their ability, they are blessings
-to the people of any country. Secondly, the eyes of the people
-are usually directed to them; and if they will be kind, just, and
-hopeful, they shall have their affections and services. Thirdly,
-they are not under equal straits with the inferior sort; and
-consequently they have more help, leisure, and occasion to polish
-their passions and tempers with books and conversation. Fourthly,
-they have more time to observe the actions of other nations: to
-travel and view the laws, customs, and interests of other countries,
-and bring home whatsoever is worthy or imitable. And so an easier
-way is open for great men to get honour; and such as love true
-reputation will embrace the best means to it. But because it too
-often happens that great men do but little mind to give God the
-glory of their prosperity, and to live answerable to his mercies;
-but on the contrary, live without God in the world, fulfilling the
-lusts thereof, his hand is often seen, either in impoverishing or
-extinguishing them, and raising up men of more virtue and humility
-to their estates and dignity. However, I must allow that among
-people of this rank there have been some of them of more than
-ordinary virtue, whose examples have given light to their families.
-And it has been something natural for some of their descendants
-to endeavour to keep up the credit of their houses in proportion
-to the merit of their founder. And to say true, if there be any
-advantage in such descent, it is not from blood but education:
-for blood has no intelligence in it, and is often spurious and
-uncertain; but education has a mighty influence and strong bias upon
-the affections and actions of men. In this the ancient nobles and
-gentry of this kingdom did excel: and it were much to be wished that
-our great people would set about to recover the ancient economy of
-their houses, the strict and virtuous discipline of their ancestors,
-when men were honoured for their achievements, and when nothing more
-exposed a man to shame, than being born to a nobility that he had
-not a virtue to support.
-
-VIII. O, but I have a higher motive! The glorious gospel of Jesus
-Christ, which having taught this northern isle, and all ranks
-professing to believe in it, let me prevail upon you to seek the
-honour that it has brought from heaven, to all the true disciples of
-it, who are indeed the followers of God's Lamb, that takes away the
-sin of the world. (John, i. 29.) Receive with meekness his gracious
-word into your hearts, that subdues the world's lusts, and leads
-in the holy way to blessedness. Here are charms no carnal eye hath
-seen, nor ear heard, nor heart perceived, but they are revealed to
-such humble converts by his spirit. Remember you are but creatures,
-and that you must die, and after all be judged.
-
-IX. But personal pride ends not in nobility of blood; it leads
-folks to a fond value of their persons, be they noble or ignoble;
-especially if they have any pretence to shape or beauty. It is
-admirable to see, how much it is possible for some to be taken with
-themselves, as if nothing else deserved their regard, or the good
-opinion of others. It would abate their folly, if they could find in
-their hearts to spare but half the time to think of God and their
-latter end, which they most prodigally spend in washing, perfuming,
-painting, patching, attiring, and dressing. In these things they are
-precise, and very artificial; and for cost they spare not. But that
-which aggravates the evil is, the pride of one might comfortably
-supply the need of ten. Gross impiety that it is, that a nation's
-pride should not be spared to a nation's poor! But what is this
-for at last? Only to be admired, to have reverence, draw love, and
-command the eyes and affections of beholders. And so fantastic are
-they in it, as hardly to be pleased too. Nothing is good, or fine,
-or fashionable enough for them: the sun itself, the blessing of
-heaven, and comfort of the earth, must not shine upon them, lest it
-tan them; nor the wind blow, for fear it should disorder them. O
-impious nicety! Yet while they value themselves above all else, they
-make themselves the vassals of their own pride; worshipping their
-shape, feature, or complexion, whichsoever is their excellency.
-The end of all which, is but too often to excite unlawful love,
-which I call lust, and draw one another into as miserable as evil
-circumstances: in single persons it is of ill consequence; for if it
-does not awaken unchaste desires, it lays no foundation for solid
-and lasting union: the want of which helps to make so many unhappy
-marriages in the world: but in married people the sin is aggravated;
-for they have none of right to please, but one another; and to
-affect the gaiety and vanity of youth, is an ill sign of loving and
-living well at home: it looks rather like dressing for a market.
-It has sad effects in families: discontents, partings, duels,
-poisonings, and other infamous murders. No age can better tell us
-the sad effects of this sort of pride than this we live in; as,
-how excessively wanton, so how fatal it has been to the sobriety,
-virtue, peace, and health of families in this kingdom.
-
-X. But I must needs say, that of all creatures, this sort of
-pride does least become the old and homely, if I may call the
-ill-favoured and deformed so; for the old are proud only of what
-they had, which shows, to their reproach, their pride has outlived
-their beauty, and, when they should be repenting, they are making
-work for repentance. But the homely are yet worse, they are proud
-of what they never had, nor ever can have: nay, their persons seem
-as if they were given for a perpetual humiliation to their minds;
-and to be proud of them is loving pride for pride's sake, and to be
-proud, without a temptation to be proud. And yet in my whole life I
-have observed nothing more doting on itself: a strange infatuation
-and enchantment of pride! What! Not to see right with their eyes,
-because of the partiality of their minds? This self-love is blind
-indeed. But to add expense to the vanity, and to be costly upon that
-which cannot be mended, one would think they should be downright
-mad; especially if they consider, that they look the homelier for
-the things that are thought handsome, and do but thereby draw their
-deformity more into notice, by that which does so little become them.
-
-But in such persons' follies we have a specimen of man; what a
-creature he is in his lapse from his primitive image. All this,
-as Jesus said of sin of old, comes from within; (Mat. xv. 11-20;)
-that is the disregard that men and women have to the word of their
-Creator in their hearts; (Deut. xxx. 14; Rom. x. 8;) which shows
-pride and teaches humility, and self-abasement, and directs the mind
-to the true object of honour and worship; and that with an awe and
-reverence suitable to his sovereignty and majesty. Poor mortals! But
-living dirt! Made of what they tread on: who, with all their pride,
-cannot secure themselves from the spoil of sickness, much less from
-the stroke of death! O! did people consider the inconstancy of all
-visible things, the cross and adverse occurrences of man's life, the
-certainty of his departure, and eternal judgment, it is to be hoped
-they would bring their deeds to Christ's light in their hearts,
-(John, iii. 20, 21,) and they would see if they were wrought in God,
-or not, as the beloved disciple tells us from his dear Master's
-mouth. Art thou shapely, comely, beautiful--the exact draught of
-a human creature? Admire that Power that made thee so. Live an
-harmonious life to the curious make and frame of thy creation; and
-let the beauty of thy body teach thee to beautify thy mind with
-holiness, the ornament of the beloved of God. Art thou homely or
-deformed; magnify that goodness that did not make thee a beast; and
-with the grace that is given unto thee, for it has appeared unto
-all, learn to adorn thy soul with enduring beauty. Remember the
-King of heaven's daughter, the church, of which true Christians are
-members, is all glorious within. And if thy soul excel, thy body
-will only set off the lustre of thy mind. Nothing is homely in God's
-sight but sin; and that man and woman that commune with their own
-hearts, and sin not; who, in the light of holy Jesus, watch over the
-movings and inclinations of their own souls, and that suppress every
-evil in its conception, they love the yoke and cross of Christ, and
-are daily by it crucified to the world, but live to God in that life
-which outlives the fading satisfactions of it.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
-     1. The character of a proud man: a glutton upon himself: is
-     proud of his pedigree.--2. He is insolent and quarrelsome,
-     but cowardly, yet cruel.--3. An ill child, subject, and
-     servant.--4. Inhospitable.--5. No friend to any.--6. Dangerous
-     and mischievous in power.--7. Of all things, pride bad in
-     ministers.--8. They claim prerogative above others.--9. And call
-     themselves the clergy: their lordliness and avarice.--10. Death
-     swallows all.--11. The way to escape these evils.
-
-
-I. To conclude this great head of pride, let us briefly see, upon
-the whole matter, what is the character of a proud man in himself,
-and in divers relations and capacities. A proud man then is a kind
-of glutton upon himself; for he is never satisfied with loving and
-admiring himself; whilst nothing else, with him, is worthy either
-of love or care: if good enough to be the servant of his will, it
-is as much as he can find in his heart to allow: as if he had been
-only made for himself, or rather that he had made himself. For as
-he despises man, because he cannot abide an equal, so he does not
-love God, because he would not have a superior: he cannot bear to
-owe his being to another, lest he should thereby acknowledge one
-above himself. He is one that is mighty big with the honour of his
-ancestors, but not of the virtue that brought them to it; much less
-will he trouble himself to imitate them. He can tell you of his
-pedigree, his antiquity, what estate, what matches; but forgets that
-they are gone, and that he must die too.
-
-II. But how troublesome a companion is a proud man! Ever positive
-and controlling; and if you yield not, insolent and quarrelsome: yet
-at the upshot of the matter, cowardly: but if strongest, cruel. He
-feels no more of other men's miseries than if he were not a man, or
-it were a sin to be sensible. For not feeling himself interested, he
-looks no further; he will not disquiet his thoughts with other men's
-infelicities; it shall content him to believe they are just: and he
-had rather churlishly upbraid them as the cause, than be ready to
-commiserate or relieve them. So that compassion and charity are with
-him as useless as humility and meekness are hateful.
-
-III. A proud man makes an ill child, servant, and subject; he
-contemns his parents, master, and prince; he will not be subject. He
-thinks himself too wise, or too old, to be directed; as if it were a
-slavish thing to obey; and that none were free that may not do what
-they please; which turns duty out of doors and degrades authority.
-On the other hand, if he be a husband, or father, or master, there
-is scarcely any enduring: he is so insufferably curious and testy
-that it is an affliction to live with him; for hardly can any hand
-carry it even enough to please him. Some peccadillo about his
-clothes, his diet, his lodging, or attendance quite disorders him:
-but especially if he fancies any want of the state and respect he
-looks for. Thus pride destroys the nature of relations: on the
-one side, learns to contemn duty; and on the other side, it turns
-love into fear, and makes the wife a servant, and the children and
-servants slaves.
-
-IV. But the proud man makes an ill neighbour too; for he is an enemy
-to hospitality: he despises to receive kindness, because he would
-not show any, nor be thought to need it. Besides, it looks too equal
-and familiar for his haughty humour. Emulation and detraction are
-his element; for he is jealous of attributing any praise to others,
-where just; lest that should cloud and lessen him, to whom it never
-could be due: he is the man that fears, what he should wish, to wit,
-that others should do well. But that is not all; he maliciously
-miscalls their acts of virtue, which his corruptions will not let
-him imitate, that they may get no credit by them. If he wants any
-occasion of doing mischief, he can make one: either they use him
-ill, or have some design upon him; the other day they paid him not
-the cap and knee; the distance and respect he thinks his quality,
-parts, or merits do require. A small thing serves a proud man to
-pick a quarrel; of all creatures the most jealous, sullen, spiteful
-and revengeful: he can no more forgive an injury, than forbear to do
-one.
-
-V. Nor is this all: a proud man can never be a friend to anybody.
-For besides that his ambition may always be bribed by honour and
-preferment to betray that relation, he is unconversable; he must not
-be catechised and counselled, much less reproved or contradicted:
-no, he is too covetous of himself to spare another man a share,
-and much too high, stiff, and touchy: he will not away with those
-freedoms that a real friendship requires. To say true, he contemns
-the character; it is much too familiar and humble for him: his
-mighty soul would know nothing besides himself and vassals to stock
-the world. He values other men, as we do cattle, for their service
-only; and, if he could, would use them so; but as it happens, the
-number and force are unequal.
-
-VI. But a proud man in power is very mischievous; for his pride is
-the more dangerous by his greatness, since from ambition in private
-men, it becomes tyranny in him: it would reign alone; nay live so,
-rather than have competitors: _Aut Cæsar, aut nullus_. Reason must
-not check it, nor rules of law limit it; and either it can do no
-wrong, or it is sedition to complain of the wrong that it does. The
-men of this temper would have nothing thought amiss they do; at
-least, they count it dangerous to allow it to be so, though so it
-be; for that would imply they had erred, which it is always matter
-of state to deny: no, they will rather choose to perish obstinately,
-than by acknowledging, yield away the reputation of better judging
-to inferiors, though it were their prudence to do so. And indeed, it
-is all the satisfaction that proud great men make to the world for
-the miseries they often bring upon it, that, first or last, upon a
-division, they leave their real interest to follow some one excess
-of humour, and are almost ever destroyed by it. This is the end
-pride gives proud men, and the ruin it brings upon them, after it
-has punished others by them.
-
-VII. But above all things, pride is intolerable in men pretending
-to religion; and of them in ministers; for they are names of the
-greatest contradiction. I speak without respect or anger, to persons
-or parties; for I only touch upon the bad of all. What shall pride
-do with religion, that rebukes it? Or ambition with ministers, whose
-very office is humility? And yet there are but too many of them,
-that, besides an equal guilt with others in the fleshly pride of the
-world, are even proud of that name and office, which ought always
-to remind them of self-denial. Yea, they use it as the beggars do
-the name of God and Christ, only to get by it: placing to their own
-account the advantages of that reverend profession, and thereby
-making their function but a political handle to raise themselves
-to the great preferments of the world. But O then! how can such be
-his ministers, that said, "My kingdom is not of this world"? (John,
-xviii. 36.) Who, of mankind, more self-conceited than these men? If
-contradicted, as arrogant and angry, as if it were their calling to
-be so. Counsel one of them, he scorns you: reprove him, and he is
-almost ready to excommunicate you: 'I am a minister and an elder:'
-flying thither to secure himself from the reach of just censure,
-which indeed exposes him but the more to it: and therefore his fault
-cannot be the less, by how much it is worse in a minister to do ill,
-and spurn at reproof, than an ordinary man.
-
-VIII. O, but he pleads an exemption by his office: what! Shall he
-breed up chickens to pick out his own eyes! Be rebuked or instructed
-by a layman or parishioner! A man of less age, learning, or ability!
-No such matter: he would have us believe that his ministerial
-prerogative has placed him out of the reach of popular impeachment.
-He is not subject to vulgar judgments. Even questions about
-religion are schism: believe as he says: it is not for you to pry
-so curiously into the mysteries of religion: never good day since
-laymen meddle so much with the minister's office. Not considering,
-poor man, that the contrary is most true: not many good days since
-ministers meddled so much in laymen's business. Though perhaps there
-is little reason for this distinction, besides spiritual gifts, and
-the improvement of them by a diligent use of them for the good of
-others.
-
-Such good sayings as these, Be ready to teach: answer with meekness:
-let every man speak as of the gift of God that is in him: if
-anything be revealed to him that sits by, let the first hold his
-peace: be not lords over God's heritage, but meek and lowly; washing
-the feet of the people, (1 Cor. xiv. 30,) as Jesus did those of his
-poor disciples;--are unreasonable and antiquated instructions with
-some clergy, and it is little less than heresy to remind them of
-these things: a mark of great disaffection to the church in their
-opinion. For by this time their pride has made them the church, and
-the people but the porch at best; a cipher that signifies nothing,
-unless they clap their figure before it: forgetting, that if they
-were as good as they should be, they could be but ministers,
-stewards, and under-shepherds; that is, servants to the church,
-family, flock, and heritage of God: and not that they are that
-church, family, flock, and heritage, which they are only servants
-unto. Remember the words of Christ, "Let him that would be greatest
-be your servant." (Mat. xx. 26.)
-
-IX. There is but one place to be found in the Holy Scripture, where
-the word _Clerus_, can properly be applied to the church, and they
-have got it to themselves; from whence they call themselves the
-clergy, that is, the inheritance or heritage of God. Whereas Peter
-exhorts the ministers of the gospel, "Not to be lords over God's
-heritage, nor to feed them for filthy lucre." (1 Peter, v. 2,
-3.) Peter belike, foresaw pride and avarice to be the ministers'
-temptations; and indeed they have often proved their fall: and to
-say true, they could hardly fall by worse. Nor is there any excuse
-to be made for them in these two respects, which is not worse than
-their sin. For if they have not been lords over God's heritage, it
-is because they have made themselves that heritage, and disinherited
-the people: so that now they may be the people's lords, with a
-_salvo_ to good old Peter's exhortation.
-
-And for the other sin of avarice, they can only avoid it, and speak
-truth thus; that never feeding the flock, they cannot be said to
-feed it for lucre: that is, they get the people's money for nothing.
-An example of which is given us, by the complaint of God himself,
-from the practice of the proud, covetous, false prophets of old,
-that the people gave their money for that which was not bread, and
-their labour for that which did not profit them: (Isaiah, lv. 2:)
-And why? Because then the priest had no vision; and too many now
-despise it.
-
-X. But alas! when all is done, what folly, as well as irreligion, is
-there in pride! It cannot add one cubit to any man's stature: what
-crosses can it hinder? What disappointments help, or harm frustrate?
-It delivers not from the common stroke; sickness disfigures, pain
-misshapes, and death ends the proud man's fabric. Six feet of cold
-earth bounds his big thoughts; and his person, that was too good
-for any place, must at last lodge within the streight limits of so
-little and so dark a cave: and he who thought nothing well enough
-for him, is quickly the entertainment of the lowest of all animals,
-even worms themselves. Thus pride and pomp come to the common end;
-but with this difference, less pity from the living, and more pain
-to the dying. The proud man's antiquity cannot secure him from
-death, nor his heraldry from judgment. Titles of honour vanish at
-this extremity; and no power or wealth, no distance or respect, can
-rescue or insure them. As the tree falls, it lies; and as death
-leaves men, judgment finds them.
-
-XI. O! what can prevent this ill conclusion? And what can remedy
-this woeful declension from ancient meekness, humility, and piety,
-and that godly life and power which were so conspicuous in the
-authority of the preachings and examples of the living, of the first
-and purest ages of Christianity? Truly, nothing but an inward and
-sincere examination, by the testimony of the holy light and spirit
-of JESUS, of the condition of their souls and minds towards Christ,
-and a better inquiry into the matter and examples of holy record.
-It was his complaint of old, "that light is come into the world,
-and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
-evil." (John, iii. 19.) If thou wouldst be a child of God, and a
-believer in Christ, thou must be a child of Light. O man, thou must
-bring thy deeds to it and examine them by that holy lamp in thy
-soul, which is the candle of the Lord, that shows thee thy pride and
-arrogancy, and reproves thy delight in the vain fashions of this
-world. Religion is a denial of self; yea, of self-religion too.
-It is a firm tie or bond upon the soul to holiness, whose end is
-happiness; for by it men come to see the Lord. The pure in heart,
-says JESUS, see God: (Matt. v. 8:) he that once comes to bear
-Christ's yoke, is not carried away by the devil's allurements; he
-finds excelling joys in his watchfulness and obedience. If men loved
-the cross of Christ, his precepts and doctrine, they would cross
-their own wills, which lead them to break Christ's holy will, and
-lose their own souls, in doing the devil's. Had Adam minded that
-holy light in Paradise more than the serpent's bait; and stayed his
-mind upon his Creator, the rewarder of fidelity, he had seen the
-snare of the enemy, and resisted him. O do not delight in that which
-is forbidden! Look not upon it, if thou wouldst not be captivated by
-it. Bring not the guilt of sins of knowledge upon thy own soul. Did
-Christ submit his will to his Father's, and for the joy that was set
-before him, endure the cross and despise the shame (Heb. xii. 2) of
-a new and untrodden way to glory? Thou also must submit thy will to
-Christ's holy law and light in thy heart, and for the reward He sets
-before thee, to wit, eternal life, endure his cross, and despise the
-shame of it. All desire to rejoice with Him, but few will suffer
-with Him, or for Him. Many are the companions of his table; not many
-of his abstinence. The loaves they follow, but the cup of his agony
-they leave: it is too bitter, they like not to drink thereof. And
-divers will magnify his miracles, that are offended at the ignominy
-of his cross. But O man, as He, for thy salvation, so thou, for the
-love of Him, must humble thyself, (Phil. ii. 7,) and be contented to
-be of no reputation, that thou mayest follow Him, not in a carnal,
-formal way, of vain man's tradition and prescription, but as the
-Holy Ghost, by the apostle, doth express it, in a new and living
-way, (Heb. x. 19, 20,) which Jesus had consecrated, that brings all
-that walk in it to the eternal rest of God: whereunto He himself is
-entered, who is the holy and only blessed Redeemer.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-     1. Avarice, the second capital lust, its definition and
-     distinction.--2. It consists in a desire of unlawful things.--3.
-     As in David's case about Uriah's wife.--4. Also Ahab's about
-     Naboth's vineyard.--5. Next, in unlawful desires of lawful
-     things.--6. Covetousness is a mark of false prophets.--7.
-     A reproach to religion.--8. An enemy to government.--9.
-     Treacherous.--10. Oppressive.--11. Judas an example.--12.
-     So Simon Magus.--13. Lastly, in unprofitable hoarding
-     of money.--14. The covetous man a common evil.--15. His
-     hypocrisy.--16. Gold his god.--17. He is sparing, to death.--18.
-     Is reproved by Christ and his followers.--19. Ananias' and
-     Sapphira's sin and judgment.--20. William Tindall's discourse
-     on that subject referred unto.--21. Peter Charron's testimony
-     against it.--22. Abraham Cowley's witty and sharp satire upon it.
-
-
-I. I am come to the second part of this discourse, which is avarice,
-or covetousness, an epidemic and a raging distemper in the world,
-attended with all the mischiefs that can make men miserable in
-themselves, and in society; so near akin to the foregoing evil,
-pride, that they are seldom apart: Liberality being almost as
-hateful to the proud, as to the covetous, I shall define it thus:
-Covetousness is the love of money or riches; (Ephes. v. 3, 5;)
-which, as the apostle hath it, "is the root of all evil." (1 Tim.
-vi. 9, 10.) It branches itself into these three parts: first,
-desiring of unlawful things; secondly, unlawfully desiring of lawful
-things; and lastly, hoarding up, or unprofitably withholding the
-benefit of them from the relief of private persons, or the public.
-I shall first deliver the sense of Scripture, and what examples are
-therein afforded against this impiety: and next, my own reasons,
-with some authorities from authors of credit. By which it will
-appear, that the working of the love of riches out of the hearts
-of people, is as much the business of the cross of Christ, as the
-rooting out of any one sin that man is fallen into.
-
-II. And first, of desiring, or coveting of unlawful things: it is
-expressly forbidden by God himself, in the law He delivered to
-Moses upon Mount Sinai, for a rule to his people the Jews to walk
-by: "Thou shalt not covet," said God, "thy neighbour's house: thou
-shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his
-maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy
-neighbour's." (Exodus, xx.) This God confirmed by thundering and
-lightnings, and other sensible solemnities, to strike the people
-with more awe in receiving and keeping of it, and to make the breach
-of these moral precepts more terrible to them. Micah complains in
-his time, "They covet fields, and take them by violence;" (Mic. ii.
-2;) but their end was misery. Therefore was it said of old, "Woe to
-them that covet an evil covetousness:" this is to our point. We have
-many remarkable instances of this in Scripture; two of which I will
-briefly report.
-
-III. David, though otherwise a good man, by unwatchfulness is taken;
-the beauty of Uriah's wife was too hard for him, being disarmed,
-and off from his spiritual watch. There was no dissuasive would do;
-Uriah must be put upon a desperate service, where it was great odds
-if he survived it. This was to hasten the unlawful satisfaction
-of his desires, by a way that looked not like direct murder. The
-contrivance took; Uriah is killed, and his wife is quickly David's.
-This interpreted David's covetousness. But went it off so? No, his
-pleasure soon turned to anguish and bitterness of spirit: his soul
-was overwhelmed with sorrow: the waves went over his head: (Psalm
-li. lxxvii. xlii. 7:) he was consumed within him: he was stuck
-in the mire and clay; he cried, he wept: yea, his eyes were as a
-fountain of tears. (Ibid. lxix. 2, 14.) Guiltiness was upon him,
-and he must be purged; his sins washed white as snow, that were as
-red as crimson, or he is undone for ever. His repentance prevailed:
-behold, what work this part of covetousness makes! What evil! What
-sorrow! O that the people of this covetousness would let the sense
-of David's sorrow sink deep into their souls, that they might come
-to David's salvation! Restore me, saith that good man: it seems he
-once knew a better state: yes, and this may teach the better sort to
-fear, and stand in awe too, lest they sin and fall. For David was
-taken at a disadvantage; he was off his watch, and gone from the
-cross; the law was not his lamp and light, at that instant; he was a
-wanderer from his safety, his strong tower, and so surprised: then
-and there it was the enemy met him, and vanquished him.
-
-IV. The second instance is that of Naboth's vineyard: (1 Kings,
-xxi.:) it was coveted by Ahab and Jezebel: that, which led them to
-such an unlawful desire, found means to accomplish it. Naboth must
-die, for he would not sell it. To do it they accuse the innocent man
-of blasphemy, and find two knights of the post, sons of Belial, to
-evidence against him. Thus, in the name of God, and in show of pure
-zeal to his glory, Naboth must die; and accordingly was stoned to
-death. The news of which coming to Jezebel, she bid Ahab arise and
-take possession, for Naboth was dead. But God followed both of them
-with his fierce vengeance. "In the place where the dogs licked the
-blood of Naboth," said Elijah, in the name of the Lord, "shall dogs
-lick thy blood, even thine; and I will bring evil upon thee, and
-take away thy posterity;" and of Jezebel, his wife and partner in
-his covetousness and murder, he adds, "The dogs shall eat her flesh
-by the walls of Jezreel." Here is the infamy and punishment due to
-this part of covetousness. Let this deter those that desire unlawful
-things, the rights of others: for God that is just, will certainly
-repay such with interest in the end. But perhaps these are few;
-either that they do not, or dare not show it, because the law will
-bite if they do. But the next part hath company enough, that will
-yet exclaim against the iniquity of this part of covetousness; and
-by their seeming abhorrence of it, would excuse themselves of all
-guilt in the rest: let us consider that.
-
-V. The next, and most common part of covetousness is the unlawful
-desire of lawful things; especially of riches. Money is lawful, but
-the love of it is the root of all evil. So riches are lawful, but
-they that pursue them, fall into divers temptations, snares, and
-lusts; He calls them uncertain, to show their folly and danger,
-that set their hearts upon them. Covetousness is hateful to God;
-he hath denounced great judgments upon those that are guilty of
-it. God charged it on Israel of old, as one of the reasons of his
-judgments; "For the iniquity of his covetousness," saith God, "was
-I wroth and smote him." (Isai. lvii. 17.) In another place, "Every
-one is given to covetousness, and from the prophet to the priest,
-every one dealeth falsely;" (Jer. vi. 13;) "therefore will I give
-their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit
-them." (Ibid. viii. 10.) In another place God complained thus: "But
-thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness." (Chap.
-xxii. 17.) By Ezekiel, God renews and repeats his complaint against
-their covetousness: "And they come to thee as the people cometh, and
-sit before thee as my people: they hear thy words, but will not do
-them; with their mouths they show much love, but their heart goeth
-after their covetousness." (Ezek. xxxiii. 31.) Therefore God, in
-the choice of magistrates, made it part of their qualification, to
-hate covetousness; foreseeing the mischief that would follow to
-that society or government where covetous men were in power; that
-self would bias them, and they would seek their own ends at the
-cost of the public. David desired, that his heart might not incline
-to covetousness, but to the testimonies of his God. (Psalm cxix.
-36.) And the wise man expressly tells us, that "he that hateth
-covetousness shall prolong his days:" (Prov. xxviii. 16:) making a
-curse to follow it. And it is by Luke charged upon the Pharisees as
-a mark of their wickedness: and Christ, in that evangelist, bids
-his followers "Take heed and beware of covetousness:" (Luke, xii.
-15:) and he giveth a reason for it that carrieth a most excellent
-instruction in it; for, saith he, "a man's life consisteth not in
-the abundance of the things which he possesseth:" (Mark, vii. 21,
-22:) but he goeth further; he joins covetousness with adultery,
-murder, and blasphemy. No wonder then if the apostle Paul is
-so liberal in his censure of this evil: he placeth it with all
-unrighteousness, to the Romans; to the Ephesians he writeth the
-like, adding, "Let not covetousness be so much as named among you:"
-(Rom. i. 29; Eph. v. 3:) and bids the Colossians mortify their
-members; (Col. iii. 5;) and names several sins, as fornication,
-uncleanness, and such like, but ends with covetousness: which, saith
-he, is idolatry. And we know there is not a greater offence against
-God: nay, this very apostle calls "the love of money the root of
-all evil;" "which," said he, "whilst some have coveted after, they
-have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many
-sorrows. For they that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a
-snare, and many foolish and hurtful lusts. O man of God," saith he
-to his beloved friend Timothy, "flee these things, and follow after
-righteousness, faith, patience, and meekness," (1 Tim. vi. 9-11.)
-
-VI. Peter was of the same mind; for he maketh covetousness to be
-one of the great marks of the false prophets and teachers that
-should arise among Christians, and by that they might know them,
-"who," saith he, "through covetousness shall with feigned words
-make merchandise of you." (2 Peter, ii. 3.) To conclude, therefore,
-the author to the Hebrews, at the end of his epistle, leaves this,
-with other things, not without great zeal and weight upon them:
-"Let," says he, "your conversation be without covetousness;" (Heb.
-xiii. 5;) he rests not in this generality, but goes on, "and be
-content with such things as ye have; for God hath said, I will
-never leave thee nor forsake thee." What then? Must we conclude
-that those who are not content, but seek to be rich, have forsaken
-God? The conclusion seems hard; but yet it is natural; for such,
-it is plain, are not content with what they have; they would have
-more: they covet to be rich, if they may: they live not with that
-dependence and regard to Providence to which they are exhorted, nor
-is godliness, with content, great gain to them.
-
-VII. And truly it is a reproach to a man, especially to a religious
-man, that he knows not when he hath enough; when to leave off; when
-to be satisfied: that notwithstanding God sends him one plentiful
-season of grain after another, he is so far from making that the
-cause of withdrawing from the traffic of the world, that he makes
-it a reason for launching further into it; as if the more he hath,
-the more he may. He therefore reneweth his appetite, bestirs himself
-more than ever, that he may have a share in the scramble, while
-anything is to be got: this is as if cumber, not retirement; and
-gain, not content, were the duty and comfort of a Christian. O that
-this thing were better considered! for by not being so observable
-nor obnoxious to the law, as other vices are, there is more danger
-for want of that check. It is plain that most people strive not for
-substance, but for wealth. Some there be that love it strongly, and
-spend it liberally when they have got it. Though this be sinful, yet
-more commendable than to love money for money's sake; that is one
-of the basest passions the mind of man can be captivated with; a
-perfect lust; and a greater, and more soul-defiling one there is not
-in the whole catalogue of concupiscence. Which considered, should
-quicken people into a serious examination, how far this temptation
-of love of money hath entered them; and the rather because the
-steps it maketh into the mind, are almost insensible, which renders
-the danger greater. Thousands think themselves unconcerned in the
-caution, that yet are perfectly guilty of the evil. Now can it be
-otherwise, when those that have, from a low condition, acquired
-thousands, labour yet to advance, yea, double and treble those
-thousands; and that with the same care and contrivance by which they
-got them? Is this to live comfortably, or to be rich? Do we not
-see how early they rise; how late they go to bed? How full of the
-change, the shop, the warehouse, the custom-house; of bills, bonds,
-charter-parties, &c. they are? Running up and down, as if it were
-to save the life of a condemned innocent. An insatiable lust, and
-therein ungrateful to God, as well as hurtful to men, who giveth
-it to them to use, and not to love: that is, the abuse. And if
-this care, contrivance, and industry, and that continually, be not
-from the love of money in those that have ten times more than they
-began with, and much more than they spend or need, I know not what
-testimony man can give of his love for anything.
-
-VIII. To conclude: It is an enemy to government in magistrates; for
-it tends to corruption. Wherefore those that God ordained were such
-as feared Him and hated covetousness. Next, it hurts society: for
-old traders keep the young ones poor: and the great reason why some
-have too little, and so are forced to drudge like slaves to feed
-their families, and keep their chin above the water, is, because the
-rich hold fast and press to be richer, and covet more, which dries
-up the little streams of profit from smaller folks. There should be
-a standard, both as to the value and time of traffic; and then the
-trade of the master to be shared among his servants that deserve it.
-This were both to help the young to get their livelihood, and to
-give the old time to think of leaving this world well, in which they
-have been so busy, that they might obtain a share in the other, of
-which they have been so careless.
-
-IX. There is yet another mischief to government; for covetousness
-leads men to abuse and defraud it, by concealing or falsifying the
-goods they deal in: as bringing in forbidden goods by stealth: or
-lawful goods, so as to avoid the payment of dues, or owning the
-goods of enemies for gain; or that they are not well made, or full
-of measure; with abundance of that sort of deceit.
-
-X. But covetousness has caused destructive feuds in families; for
-estates falling into the hands of those whose avarice has put them
-upon drawing greater profit to themselves than was consistent
-with justice, has given birth to much trouble, and caused great
-oppression; it too often falling out, that such executors have kept
-the right owners out of possession with the money they should pay
-them.
-
-XI. But this is not all; for covetousness betrays friendship; a
-bribe cannot be better placed to do an ill thing, or undo a man.
-Nay, it is too often a murderer both of soul and body; of the soul,
-because it kills that life it should have in God: where money
-masters the mind, it extinguishes all love to better things: of the
-body, for it will kill for money, by assassinations, poisons, false
-witness, &c. I shall end this head on covetousness, with the sin
-and doom of two covetous men, Judas, and Simon the sorcerer.
-
-Judas's religion fell in thorny ground: love of money choked him.
-Pride and anger in the Jews endeavoured to murder Christ; but till
-covetousness set her hand to effect it, they were all at a loss.
-They found Judas had the bag, and probably loved money; they would
-try him, and did. The price was set, and Judas betrays his Master,
-his Lord, into the hands of his most cruel adversaries. But to do
-him right he returned the money, and to be revenged on himself, was
-his own hangman. A wicked act, a wicked end. Come on, you covetous:
-what say you now to brother Judas? was he not an ill man? did he
-not very wickedly? Yes, yes: would you have done so? No, no: by
-no means. Very well; but so said those wicked Jews of stoning the
-prophets, and that yet crucified the beloved Son of God; He that
-came to save them, and would have done it, if they had received
-Him, and not rejected the day of their visitation. Rub your eyes
-well, for the dust is got into them; and carefully read in your
-own consciences, and see if, out of love to money, you have not
-betrayed the Just One in yourselves, and so are brethren with
-Judas in iniquity. I speak for God against an idol; bear with me.
-Have you not resisted, yea, quenched the good Spirit of Christ in
-your pursuit after your beloved wealth? Examine yourselves, try
-yourselves; know ye not your own selves: if Christ dwell not, if He
-rule not, and be not above all beloved in you, ye are reprobates: in
-an undone condition! (2 Cor. xiii. 5.)
-
-XII. The other covetous man is Simon the sorcerer, a believer too:
-but his faith could not go deep enough for covetousness. (Acts,
-viii. 9-24.) He would have driven a bargain with Peter: so much
-money for so much Holy Ghost; that he might sell it again, and make
-a good trade of it; corruptly measuring Peter by himself, as if
-he had only a better knack of cozening the people than himself,
-who had set up in Samaria for the great power of God, before the
-power of God in Philip and Peter undeceived the people. But what
-was Peter's answer and judgment? "Thy money," says he, "perish
-with thee; thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: thou art
-in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." A dismal
-sentence. Besides, covetousness tends to luxury, and rises often out
-of it: for from having much, they spend much, and so become poor by
-luxury: such are covetous to get, to spend more, which temperance
-would prevent. For if men would not, or could not, by good laws well
-executed, and a better education, be so lavish in their tables,
-houses, furniture, apparel, and gaming, there would be no such
-temptation to covet earnestly after what they could not spend: for
-there is but here and there a miser that loves money for money's
-sake.
-
-XIII. Which leads to the last and basest part of covetousness,
-which is yet the most sordid, to wit, hoarding up, or keeping money
-unprofitably, both to others and themselves too. This is Solomon's
-miser, that makes himself rich, and hath nothing: (Prov. xiii.
-7:) a great sin in the sight of God. He complained of such as had
-stored up the labours of the poor in their houses; he calls it
-their spoils, and it is a grinding of the poor, because they see
-it not again. But he blesseth those that consider the poor, and
-commandeth every one, to open freely to his brother that is in need;
-(Psalm xli. 1; Deut. xv. 7, 8;) not only he that is spiritually,
-but naturally so; and not to withhold his gift from the poor. The
-apostle chargeth Timothy, in the sight of God, and before Jesus
-Christ, that "he fail not to charge them that are rich in this
-world, that they trust not in their uncertain riches, but in the
-living God, who giveth liberally; and that they do good with
-them, that they may be rich in good works." (1 Tim. vi. 17, 18.)
-Riches are apt to corrupt; and that which keeps them sweet and best
-is charity: he that uses them not gets them not for the end for
-which they are given, but loves them for themselves, and not their
-service. The miser is poor in his wealth: he wants for fear of
-spending; and increases his fear with his hope, which is his gain;
-and so tortures himself with his pleasure; the most like to the
-man that hid his talent in a napkin, of all others, for this man's
-talents are hid in his bags out of sight, in vaults, under boards,
-behind wainscots: else upon bonds and mortgages, growing but as
-underground; for it is good to none.
-
-XIV. The covetous man hates all useful arts and sciences as vain,
-lest they should cost him something the learning: wherefore
-ingenuity has no more place in his mind than in his pocket. He lets
-houses fall, to prevent the charge of repairs: and for his spare
-diet, plain clothes, and mean furniture, he would place them to the
-account of moderation. O monster of a man! that can take up the
-cross for covetousness, and not for Christ.
-
-XV. But he pretends negatively to some religion too; for he always
-rails at prodigality, the better to cover his avarice. If you would
-bestow a box of spikenard on a good man's head; to save money, and
-to seem righteous, he tells you of the poor: but if the poor come,
-he excuses his want of charity with the unworthiness of the object,
-or the causes of his poverty, or that he can bestow his money upon
-those that deserve it better; who rarely opens his purse till
-quarter-day for fear of losing it.
-
-XVI. But he is more miserable than the poorest; for he enjoys not
-what he yet fears to lose; they fear not what they do not enjoy.
-Thus is he poor by overvaluing his wealth: but he is wretched that
-hungers with money in a cook's shop: yet having made a god of his
-gold, who knows, but he thinks it unnatural to eat what he worships?
-
-XVII. But, which aggravates this sin, I have myself once known some,
-that to get money have wearied themselves into the grave; and to
-be true to their principle, when sick would not spare a fee to a
-doctor, to help the poor slave to live; and so died to save charges:
-a constancy that canonizes them martyrs for money.
-
-XVIII. But now let us see what instances the Scripture will give us
-in reproof of the sordid hoarders and hiders of money. A good-like
-young man came to Christ, and inquired the way to eternal life:
-Christ told him, he knew the commandments: he replied, he had kept
-them from his youth: it seems he was no loose person, and indeed
-such are usually not so, to save charges. And "yet lackest thou one
-thing," saith Christ; "sell all, distribute it to the poor, and thou
-shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow Me." It seems
-Christ pinched him in the sore place; He hit the mark, and struck
-him to the heart: who knew his heart; by this He tried how well he
-had kept the commandment, "To love God above all." It was said, the
-young man was very sorrowful, and went his way; and the reason which
-is given is, that he was very rich. The tides met, money and eternal
-life: contrary desires: but which prevailed? Alas! his riches. But
-what said Christ to this? How hardly shall they that have riches
-enter into the kingdom of God! He adds, "It is easier for a camel to
-go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom
-of heaven:" that is, such a rich man, to wit, a covetous rich man,
-to whom it is hard to do good with what he has: it is more than a
-miracle: O who then would be rich and covetous! It was upon these
-rich men that Christ pronounced his woe, saying, "Woe unto you that
-are rich, for ye have received your consolation here." What! none
-in the heavens? No, unless you become willing to be poor men, can
-resign all, live loose to the world, have it at arm's end, yea,
-under foot; a servant, and not a master.
-
-XIX. The other instance is a very dismal one too: it is that of
-Ananias and Sapphira. In the beginning of the apostolical times, it
-was customary for those who received the word of life, to bring what
-substance they had and lay it at the apostles' feet: of these Joses,
-surnamed Barnabas, was exemplary. Among the rest, Ananias and his
-wife Sapphira, confessing to the truth, sold their possession, but
-covetously reserved some of the purchase-money from the common purse
-to themselves, and brought a part for the whole, and laid it at the
-apostles' feet. But Peter, a plain and bold man, in the majesty of
-the Spirit, said, "Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to
-lie to the Holy Ghost; and to keep back part of the price of the
-land? Whilst it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was
-sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this
-thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God."
-(Acts, v. 3, 4.) But what followed this covetousness and hypocrisy
-of Ananias? Why, "Ananias hearing these words, fell down, and gave
-up the ghost." The like befel his wife, being privy to the deceit
-their avarice had led them to. And it is said, that "great fear came
-upon all the church, and those that heard of these things:" and
-also should on those that now read them. For if this judgment was
-shown and recorded that we should beware of the like evils, what
-will become of those who, under the profession of Christianity, a
-religion that teaches men to live loose from the world, and to yield
-up all to the will and service of Christ and his kingdom, not only
-retain a part, but all; and cannot part with the least thing for
-Christ's sake? I beseech God to incline the hearts of my readers to
-weigh these things. This had not befallen Ananias and Sapphira,
-if they had acted as in God's presence, and with that entire love,
-truth, and sincerity that became them. O that people would use the
-light that Christ has given them, to search and see how far they are
-under the power of this iniquity! For would they but watch against
-the love of the world, and be less in bondage to the things that
-are seen, which are temporal, they would begin to set their hearts
-on things above, that are of an eternal nature. Their life would be
-hid with Christ in God, out of the reach of all the uncertainties of
-time, and troubles, and changes of mortality. Nay, if people would
-but consider how hardly riches are got, how uncertainly they are
-kept, the envy they bring; that they can neither make a man wise,
-nor cure diseases, nor add to life, much less give peace in death;
-no, nor hardly yield any solid benefit above food or raiment, (which
-may be had without them,) and that if there be any good use for
-them, it is to relieve others in distress; being but stewards of the
-plentiful providences of God, and consequently accountable for our
-stewardship; if, I say, these considerations had any room in our
-minds, we should not thus post to get, nor care to hide and keep
-such a mean and impotent thing. O that the cross of Christ, which
-is the Spirit and power of God in man, might have more place in the
-soul, that it might crucify us more and more to the world, and the
-world to us; that, like the days of paradise, the earth might again
-be the footstool, and the treasure of the earth a servant, and not
-a god to man!--Many have written against this vice; three I will
-mention.
-
-XX. William Tindall, that worthy apostle of the English reformation,
-has an entire discourse, to which I refer the reader, entitled, "The
-Parable of the Wicked Mammon." The next is--
-
-XXI. Peter Charron, a famous Frenchman, and in particular for the
-book he wrote of wisdom, hath a chapter against covetousness;
-part of which take as followeth: "To love and affect riches is
-covetousness: not only the love and affection, but also every
-over-curious care and industry about riches. The desire of goods,
-and the pleasure we take in possessing them, are grounded only upon
-opinion: the immoderate desire to get riches is a gangrene in our
-soul, which with a venomous heat consumeth our natural affections,
-to the end it might fill us with virulent humours. So soon as it
-is lodged in our hearts, all honest and natural affection, which
-we owe either to our parents, our friends, or ourselves, vanisheth
-away: all the rest, in respect of our profit, seemeth nothing;
-yea, we forget in the end, and condemn ourselves, our bodies, our
-minds, for this transitory trash; and as our proverb is, We sell our
-horse to get us hay. Covetousness is the vile and base passion of
-vulgar fools, who account riches the principal good of a man, and
-fear poverty as the greatest evil; and not contenting themselves
-with necessary means, which are forbidden no man, weigh that which
-is good in a goldsmith's balance; when nature hath taught us to
-measure it by the ell of necessity. For, what greater folly can
-there be than to adore that which nature itself hath put under our
-feet, and hidden in the earth, as unworthy to be seen; yea, rather
-to be contemned, and trampled under foot? This is that which the
-sin of man hath only torn out of the entrails of the earth, and
-brought unto light to kill himself. We dig out the earth, and bring
-to light those things for which we would fight: we are not ashamed
-to esteem those things most highly which are in the lowest parts of
-the earth. Nature seemeth even in the first birth of gold, after a
-sort, to have presaged the misery of those that are in love with it;
-for it hath so ordered the matter, that in those countries where it
-groweth there groweth with it neither grass nor plant, nor other
-thing that is worth anything: as giving us to understand thereby,
-that in those minds where the desire of this metal groweth, there
-cannot remain so much as a spark of true honour and virtue. For
-what thing can be more base than for a man to degrade, and to make
-himself a servant and a slave to that which should be subject unto
-him? Riches serve wise men, but command a fool: for a covetous man
-serveth his riches, and not they him: and he is said to have goods
-as he hath a fever, which holdeth and tyrannizeth over a man, not he
-over it. What thing more vile, than to love that which is not good,
-neither can make a good man? Yea is common, and in the possession
-of the most wicked in the world; which many times perverts good
-manners, but never amends them: without which, so many wise men
-have made themselves happy; and by which so many wicked men have
-come to a wicked end. To be brief; what thing more miserable, than
-to bind the living to the dead, as Mezentius did, to the end their
-death might be languishing, and the more cruel; to tie the spirit
-unto the excrement and scum of the earth; to pierce through his
-own soul with a thousand torments, which this amorous passion of
-riches brings with it; and to entangle himself with the ties and
-cords of this malignant thing, as the Scripture calls them, which
-doth likewise term them thorns and thieves, which steal away the
-heart of man, snares of the devil, idolatry, and the root of all
-evil? And truly he that shall see the catalogue of those envies and
-molestations which riches engender into the heart of man, as their
-proper thunderbolt and lightning, they would be more hated than they
-are now loved. Poverty wants many things, but covetousness all: a
-covetous man is good to none, but worse to himself." Thus much of
-Charron, a wise and great man. My next testimony is yielded by an
-author not unlikely to take with some sort of people for his wit;
-may they equally value his morality, and the judgment of his riper
-time.
-
-XXII. Abraham Cowley, a witty and ingenious man, yieldeth us the
-other testimony: of avarice he writeth thus: "There are two sorts
-of avarice, the one is but a bastard-kind, and that is a rapacious
-appetite of gain; not for its own sake, but for the pleasure of
-refunding it immediately through all the channels of pride and
-luxury. The other is the true kind, and properly so called, which
-is a restless and insatiable desire of riches, not for any further
-end or use, but only to hoard and preserve, and perpetually increase
-them. The covetous man of the first kind, is like a greedy ostrich,
-which devoureth any metal, but it is with an intent to feed upon
-it, and in effect, it maketh a shift to digest and excern it. The
-second is like the foolish chough, which loveth to steal money,
-only to hide it. The first doth much harm to mankind, and a little
-good to some few: the second doth good to none; no, not to himself.
-The first can make no excuse to God or angels, or rational men, for
-his actions: the second can give no reason or colour, not to the
-devil himself, for what he doth: he is a slave to mammon without
-wages. The first maketh a shift to be beloved, aye, and envied too,
-by some people: the second is the universal object of hatred and
-contempt. There is no vice hath been so pelted with good sentences,
-and especially by the poets, who have pursued it with satires
-and fables, and allegories and allusions, and moved, as we say,
-every stone to fling at it; among which I do not remember a finer
-correction than that which was given it by one line of Ovid's:
-
-                            "Multa
-    Luxuriæ desunt, omnia avaritiæ."
-
-Which is,
-
-    "Much is wanting to luxury, all to avarice."
-
-To which saying I have a mind to add one member, and render it
-thus: poverty wants some, luxury many, avarice all things. Somebody
-saith of a virtuous and wise man that having nothing, he hath all.
-This is just his antipode, who having all things, yet hath nothing.
-
-    And O! what man's condition can be worse
-    Than his, whom plenty starves, and blessings curse?
-    The beggars but a common fate deplore,
-    The rich poor man's emphatically poor.
-
-"I wonder how it cometh to pass, that there hath never been any law
-made against him: against him do I say? I mean for him. As there are
-public provisions made for all other madmen, it is very reasonable
-that the king should appoint some persons to manage his estate,
-during his life, for his heirs commonly need not that care, and
-out of it to make it their business to see that he should not want
-alimony befitting their condition; which he could never get out of
-his own cruel fingers. We relieve idle vagrants and counterfeit
-beggars, but have no care at all of these really poor men, who are,
-methinks, to be respectfully treated, in regard of their quality.
-I might be endless against them, but I am almost choked with the
-superabundance of the matter. Too much plenty impoverisheth me, as
-it doth them." Thus much against avarice, that moth of the soul, and
-canker of the mind.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV.
-
-     1. Luxury, what it is, and the mischief of it to mankind.
-     An enemy to the cross of Christ.--2. Of luxury in diet, how
-     unlike Christ, and contrary to Scripture.--3. The mischief it
-     does to the bodies, as well as the minds of people.--4. Of
-     luxury in the excess of apparel, and of recreations; that sin
-     brought the first coat: people not to be proud of the badge
-     of their misery.--5. The recreations of the times, enemies
-     to virtue: they rise from degeneracy.--6. The end of clothes
-     allowable; the abuse reprehended.--7. The chief recreation of
-     good men of old was to serve God, and do good to mankind, and
-     follow honest vocations, not vain sports and pastimes.--8. The
-     Heathen knew and did better things. The sobriety of infidels
-     above Christians.--9. Luxury condemned in the case of the rich
-     man.--10. The doctrine of the Scripture positively against a
-     voluptuous life.
-
-
-I. I am now come to the other extreme, and that is luxury, which is
-an excessive indulgence of self, in ease and pleasure. This is the
-last great impiety struck at in this discourse of the holy cross of
-Christ, which indeed is much the subject of its mortifying virtue
-and power. A disease as epidemical, as killing: it creeps into all
-stations and ranks of men: the poorest often exceeding their ability
-to indulge their appetite; and the rich frequently wallowing in
-those things that please the lusts of their eye and flesh, and the
-pride of life: as regardless of the severe discipline of JESUS,
-whom they call Saviour, as if luxury, and not the cross, were the
-ordained way to heaven. What shall we eat, what shall we drink,
-and what shall we put on? once the care of luxurious heathens, is
-now the practice of, and which is worse, the study of pretended
-Christians. But let such be ashamed, and repent; remembering that
-Jesus did not reproach the Gentiles for those things, to indulge
-his followers in them. They that will have Christ to be theirs,
-must be sure to be his; to be like-minded, to live in temperance
-and moderation, as knowing the Lord is at hand. Sumptuous apparel,
-rich unguents, delicate washes, stately furniture, costly cookery,
-and such diversions as balls, masques, music-meetings, plays,
-romances, &c., which are the delight and entertainment of the times,
-belong not to the holy path that Jesus and his true disciples and
-followers trod to glory. No, "Through many tribulations," says none
-of the least of them, "must we enter the kingdom of God." (Acts,
-xiv. 22.) I do earnestly beseech the gay and luxurious, into whose
-hands this discourse shall be directed, to consider well the reasons
-and examples here advanced against their way of living; if happily
-they may come to see how remote it is from true Christianity, and
-how dangerous to their eternal peace. God Almighty, by his grace,
-soften their hearts to instruction, and shed abroad his tender love
-in their souls, that they may be overcome to repentance, and to the
-love of the holy way of the cross of Jesus, the blessed Redeemer
-of men. For they cannot think that He can benefit them, while they
-refuse to lay down their sins for the love of Him that laid down
-his life for the love of them. Or that He will give them a place in
-heaven, that refuse Him any in their hearts on earth. But let us
-examine luxury in all its parts.
-
-II. Luxury has many parts; the first that is forbidden by the
-self-denying Jesus, is gluttony, "Take no thought, saying, What
-shall we eat, or what shall we drink?--for after these things do the
-Gentiles seek:" (Mat. vi. 31, 32:) as if He had said, The Heathen,
-such as live without the true God, whose care is to please their
-appetite, more than to seek God and his kingdom: you must not do
-so, but "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,
-and all these things shall be added unto you." (Mat. vi. 33.) That
-which is convenient for you will follow: let everything have its
-time and order.
-
-This carries a serious reprehension to the luxurious eater and
-drinker, who is taken up with an excessive care of his palate, what
-shall he eat, and what shall he drink: who being often at a loss
-what to have next, therefore has an officer to invent, and a cook to
-dress, disguise, and drown the species, that it may cheat the eye,
-look new and strange; and all to excite an appetite, or raise an
-admiration. To be sure there is great variety, and that curious and
-costly; the sauce, it may be, dearer than the meat; and so full is
-he fed, that without it he can scarce find out a stomach; which is
-to force a hunger, rather than to satisfy it.--And as he eats, so
-he drinks: rarely for thirst, but pleasure: to please his palate.
-For that purpose he will have divers sorts, and he must taste them
-all: one, however good, is dull and tiresome; variety is more
-delightful than the best; and therefore the whole world is little
-enough to fill his cellar. But were he temperate in his proportions,
-his variety might be imputed rather to curiosity than luxury.
-But what the temperate man uses as a cordial, he drinks by full
-draughts, till inflamed by excess, he is fitted to be an instrument
-of mischief, if not to other persons, yet always to himself, whom
-perhaps at last he knows not: for such brutality are some come to,
-they will sip themselves out of their own knowledge. This is the
-lust of the flesh, that is not of the Father, but of the world; for
-upon this comes in the music and dance, and mirth, and the laughter,
-which is madness; (Eccl. ii. 2;) that the noise of one pleasure may
-drown the iniquity of another, lest his own heart should deal too
-plainly with him. Thus the luxurious live: they forget God, they
-regard not the afflicted. O that the sons and daughters of men
-would consider their wantonness and their iniquity in these things!
-How ill do they requite the goodness of God in the use and abuse of
-the plenty He yields them! How cruel are they to his creatures, how
-lavish of their lives and virtue, how thankless for them: forgetting
-the Giver, and abusing his gifts, and despising counsel, and casting
-instruction behind them! They lose tenderness and forget duty, being
-swallowed up of voluptuousness, adding one excess to another. God
-rebuked this sin in the Jews, by the prophet Amos: "Ye that put far
-away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; that
-lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches,
-and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the stall;
-that chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves
-instruments of music, like David; that drink wine in bowls, and
-anoint themselves with the chief ointments; but they are not grieved
-for the affliction of Joseph." (Amos, vi. 3-6.) These, it seems,
-were the vices of the degenerate Jews, under all their pretence to
-religion; and are they not of Christians at this day? Yea they are,
-and these are the great parts of luxury struck at in this discourse.
-Remember the rich man, with all his sumptuous fare, went to hell:
-and the apostle pronounces heavy woes upon those "whose god is their
-belly: for such glory in their shame." (Phil. iii. 19.)
-
-Christ places these things to the courts of worldly kings, not his
-kingdom: making them unseemly in his followers: his feast therefore,
-to the multitude, which was his miracle, was plain and simple;
-enough, but without curiosity or art of cookery: and it went down
-well, for they were hungry; the best and fittest time to eat. And
-the apostle, in his directions to his much-beloved Timothy, debases
-the lovers of worldly fulness; advising him to godliness and content
-as the chiefest gain: adding, "and having food and raiment, let us
-therewith be content." (1 Tim. vi. 6, 8.) Behold the abstemious,
-and most contented life of those pilgrims, the sons of heaven,
-and immortal offspring of the great power of God; they were in
-fasts and perils often, and ate what was set before them; and in
-all conditions learned to be contented. O blessed men! O blessed
-spirits! Let my soul dwell with yours for ever.
-
-III. But the diseases which luxury begets and nourishes, make it an
-enemy to mankind: for besides the mischief it brings to the souls
-of people, it undermines health, and shortens the life of man, in
-that it gives but ill nourishment and so leaves and feeds corrupt
-humours, whereby the body becomes rank and foul, lazy and scorbutic;
-unfit for exercise, and more for honest labour. The spirits being
-thus loaded with ill flesh, and the mind effeminated, a man is made
-inactive, and so useless in civil society; for idleness follows
-luxury, as well as diseases. These are the burdens of the world,
-devourers of good things, self-lovers, and so forgetters of God: but
-which is sad, and yet just, the end of those that forget God, is to
-be turned into hell. (Psalm ix. 19.)
-
-IV. But there is another part of luxury that has great place with
-vain man and woman, and that is the gorgeousness of apparel, one
-of the most foolish, because most costly, empty, and unprofitable
-excesses people can well be guilty of.
-
-V. Nor is it otherwise with recreations, as they call them; for
-these are nearly related. Man was made a noble, rational, grave
-creature; his pleasure stood in his duty, and his duty in obeying
-God: which is to love, fear, adore, and serve Him; and in using the
-creation with true temperance and godly moderation; as knowing well
-that the Lord, his judge, was at hand, the inspector and rewarder of
-his works. In short, his happiness was in his communion with God;
-his error was to leave that conversation, and let his eyes wander
-abroad to gaze on transitory things. If the recreations of the age
-were as pleasant and necessary as they are said and made to be,
-unhappy then would Adam and Eve have been, that never knew them. But
-had they never fallen, and the world been tainted by their folly and
-ill example, perhaps man had never known the necessity or use of
-many of these things. Sin gave them birth, as it did the other; they
-were afraid of the presence of the Lord, which was the joy of their
-innocency, when they had sinned; and then their minds wandered,
-sought other pleasures, and began to forget God; as He complained
-afterwards by the prophet Amos, "They put far away the evil day:
-they eat the fat of the flock: they drink wine in bowls: they anoint
-themselves with the chief perfumes: they stretch themselves upon
-beds of ivory: they chant to the sound of the viol, and invent upon
-themselves instruments of music, like David," (Amos, vi. 3-6,)
-not heeding or remembering the afflictions and captivity of poor
-Joseph: him they wickedly sold, innocency was quite banished, and
-shame soon began to grow a custom, till they were grown shameless
-in the imitation. And truly, it is now no less a shame to approach
-primitive innocence by modest plainness, than it was matter of
-shame to Adam that he lost it, and became forced to tack fig-leaves
-for a covering. Wherefore in vain do men and women deck themselves
-with specious pretences to religion, and flatter their miserable
-souls with the fair titles of Christian, innocent, good, virtuous,
-and the like, whilst such vanities and follies reign. Wherefore to
-you all, from the eternal God, I am bound to declare, you mock Him
-that will not be mocked, and deceive yourselves; (Gal. vi. 7;) such
-intemperance must be denied, and you must know yourselves changed,
-and more nearly approached to primitive purity, before you can be
-entitled to what you do now but usurp; for none but those who are
-led by the Spirit of God are the children of God, (Rom. viii. 14;
-Gal. v. 23,) which guides into all temperance and meekness.
-
-VI. But the Christian world, as it would be called, is justly
-reprovable, because the very end of the first institution of apparel
-is grossly perverted. The utmost service that clothes originally
-were designed for, when sin had stripped them of their native
-innocence, was, as hath been said, to cover them; therefore plain
-and modest: next, to fence out cold; therefore substantial: lastly,
-to declare sexes; therefore distinguishing. So that then necessity
-provoked to clothing, now, pride and vain curiosity; in former times
-some benefit obliged, but now, wantonness and pleasure: then they
-minded them for covering, but now, that is the least part; their
-greedy eyes must be provided with gaudy superfluities: as if they
-made their clothes for trimming, to be seen rather than worn; only
-for the sake of other curiosities that must be tacked upon them,
-although they neither fence from cold, nor distinguish sexes; but
-signally display their wanton, fantastic, full-fed minds, that have
-them.
-
-VII. Then the recreations were to serve God, be just, follow their
-vocations, mind their flocks, do good, exercise their bodies in such
-a manner as was suitable to gravity, temperance, and virtue; but
-now that word is extended to almost every folly; so much are men
-degenerated from Adam in his disobedience; so much more confident
-and artificial are they grown in all impieties: yea, their minds,
-through custom, are become so very insensible of the inconveniency
-that attends the like follies, that what was once mere necessity,
-is now the delight, pleasure, and recreation of age. How ignoble
-is it, how ignominious and unworthy of a reasonable creature! Man,
-who is endued with understanding, fit to contemplate immortality,
-and made a companion (if not superior) to angels, that he should
-mind a little dust, a few shameful rags; inventions of mere pride
-and luxury; toys so apish and fantastic, entertainments so dull and
-earthly, that a rattle, a baby, a hobby-horse, a top, are by no
-means so foolish in a simple child, not unworthy of his thoughts, as
-are such inventions of the care and pleasure of men! It is a mark of
-great stupidity that such vanities should exercise the noble mind of
-man, and image of the great Creator of heaven and earth.
-
-VIII. Of this many among the very Heathens of old had so clear a
-prospect that they detested all such vanity, looking upon curiosity
-in apparel, and that variety of recreations, now in vogue and esteem
-with false Christians, to be destructive of good manners, in that
-it more easily stole away the minds of people from sobriety to
-wantonness, idleness, effeminacy, and made them only companions
-for the beast that perishes: witness those famous men, Anaxagoras,
-Socrates, Plato, Aristides, Cato, Seneca, Epictetus, &c., who
-placed true honour and satisfaction in nothing below virtue and
-immortality. Nay, such are the remains of innocence among some Moors
-and Indians in our times, that if a Christian (though he must be
-an odd one) fling out a filthy word, it is customary with them, by
-way of moral, to bring him water to purge his mouth. How much do
-the like virtues and reasonable instances accuse people, professing
-Christianity, of gross folly and intemperance! O that men and
-women had the fear of God before their eyes; and that they were so
-charitable to themselves, as to remember whence they came, what they
-are doing, and to what they must return: that so more noble, more
-virtuous, more rational and heavenly things might be the matters of
-their pleasure and entertainment; that they would be once persuaded
-to believe how inconsistent the folly, vanity, and conversation
-they are mostly exercised in, really are with the true nobility of
-a reasonable soul; and let that just principle, which taught the
-Heathens, teach them; lest it be found more tolerable for Heathens
-than such Christians, in the day of account. For if their shorter
-notions, and more imperfect sense of things could yet discover so
-much vanity; if their degree of light condemned it, and they, in
-obedience thereunto, disused it, doth it not behove Christians much
-more?
-
-IX. Again these things, which have been hitherto condemned, have
-never been the conversation or practice of the holy men and women of
-old times, whom the Scriptures recommend for holy examples, worthy
-of imitation. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were plain men, and princes,
-as graziers are, over their families and flocks. They were not
-solicitous for the vanities so much lived in by the people of this
-generation, for they pleased God by faith. The first forsook his
-father's house, kindred, and country; a true type or figure of that
-self-denial all must know, that would have Abraham to their father.
-They must not think to live in those pleasures, fashions, and
-customs they are called to leave; no, but part with all hopes of the
-great recompense of reward, and that better country which is eternal
-in the heavens. (Heb. xi. 26, 15; Rom. v. 1.) The prophets were
-generally poor; one a shepherd, another a herdsman, &c. They often
-cried out unto the full-fed wanton Israelites to repent, to fear and
-dread the living God, to forsake the sins and vanities they lived
-in; but they never imitated them. John the Baptist, the messenger
-of the Lord, preached his embassy to the world in a coat of
-camel's-hair, a rough and homely garment. (Matt. iii. 4.) Nor can it
-be conceived that Jesus Christ himself was much better apparelled,
-who, according to the flesh, was of poor descent, and in life, of
-great plainness; insomuch that it was usual in a way of derision to
-say, "Is not this Jesus, the carpenter, the son of Mary?" (Matt.
-xiii. 55; Mark, vi. 3.) And this Jesus tells his followers, "That
-as for soft raiment, gorgeous apparel and delicacies, they were for
-king's courts:" (Luke, vii. 25:) implying, that He and his followers
-were not to seek after those things; but seems thereby to express
-the great difference that was betwixt the lovers of the fashions and
-customs of the world, and those whom He had chosen out of it. And He
-did not only come in that mean and despicable manner himself, that
-He might stain the pride of all flesh, but therein became exemplary
-to his followers, what a self-denying life they must lead, if they
-would be his true disciples. Nay, He further leaves it with them in
-a parable, to the end that it might make the deeper impression, and
-that they might see how inconsistent a pompous, worldly-pleasing
-life is with the kingdom He came to establish and call men to the
-possession of: and that is the remarkable story of Dives, who is
-represented first, as a rich man; (Luke, xvi. 19. &c.;) next as a
-voluptuous man, in his rich apparel, his many dishes, and his pack
-of dogs; and lastly, as an uncharitable man, or one who was more
-concerned to please the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and
-the pride of life, and fare sumptuously every day, than to take
-compassion of poor Lazarus at his gate: no, his dogs were more
-pitiful and kind than he. But what was the doom of this jolly man,
-this great rich man? We read it was everlasting torment; but that of
-Lazarus, eternal joy with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom
-of God. In short, Lazarus was a good man, the other a great man: the
-one poor and temperate, the other rich and luxurious: there are too
-many of them alive; and it were well, if his doom might awaken them
-to repentance.
-
-X. Nor were the twelve apostles, the immediate messengers of the
-Lord Jesus Christ, other than poor men, one a fisherman, another
-a tent-maker; and he that was of the greatest, though perhaps
-not the best employment, was a custom-gatherer. (Matt. iv. 18;
-ix. 9; Acts, xviii. 3.) So that it is very unlikely that any of
-them were followers of the fashions of the world: nay, they were
-so far from it, that, as became the followers of Christ, (1 Cor.
-iv. 9-14,) they lived poor, afflicted, self-denying lives; bidding
-the churches to walk as they had them for examples. (Phil. iii. 1,
-7; 1 Pet. ii. 21.) And to shut up this particular, they gave this
-pathetic account of the holy women in former times, as an example of
-godly temperance, (1 Pet. iii. 3, 4,) namely, that first they did
-expressly abstain from gold, silver, plaited hair, fine apparel,
-or such like; and next, that their adornment was a meek and quiet
-spirit, and the hidden man of the heart, which are of great price
-with the Lord; affirming that such as live in pleasure, are dead
-whilst they live: (1 Tim. v. 6; Luke, viii. 14:) for that the
-cares and pleasures of this life choke and destroy the seed of the
-kingdom, and quite hinder all progress in the hidden and divine
-life. Wherefore we find that the holy men and women of former times
-were not accustomed to these pleasures and vain recreations; but
-having their minds set on things above, sought another kingdom,
-which consists in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit:
-who having obtained a good report, and entered into their eternal
-rest; therefore their works follow, and praise them in the gates.
-(Rom. xiv. 17; Heb. xi. 2; iv. 9; Rev. xiv. 13.)
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV.
-
-     1. The judgments of God denounced upon the Jews for their
-     luxury; all ranks included.--2. Christ charges his disciples
-     to have a care of the guilt of it: a supplication to the
-     inhabitants of England.--3. Temperance pressed upon the churches
-     by the apostles.--4. An exhortation to England to measure
-     herself by that rule.--5. What Christian recreations are.--6.
-     Who need other sports to pass away their time are unfit for
-     heaven and eternity.--7. Man has but a few days: they may be
-     better bestowed: this doctrine is ungrateful to none that
-     would be truly blessed.--8. Not only good is omitted by this
-     luxurious life, but evil committed, as breach of marriage and
-     love, loss of health and estate, &c. Playhouses and stages
-     most instrumental to this mischief.--9. How youth are by them
-     inflamed to vanity: what mischief comes of revels, gamings, &c.
-     Below the life of noble heathens.--10. The true disciples of
-     Jesus are mortified in these things: the pleasure and reward of
-     a good employment of time.
-
-
-I. But such excess in apparel and pleasure was not only forbidden
-in Scripture, but it was the ground of that lamentable message by
-the prophet Isaiah to the people of Israel: "Moreover the Lord
-saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walked with
-stretched-forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they
-go, and making a tinkling with their feet; therefore the Lord will
-smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion,
-and the Lord will discover their secret parts; in that day the Lord
-will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments, and their
-cauls, (or net-works in the Hebrew,) and their round tires like the
-moon; the chains and the bracelets, and the mufflers; the bonnets,
-and the ornaments of the legs, and the head-bands, and the tablets,
-and ear-rings, the rings and nose-jewels; the changeable suits of
-apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins;
-the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods and the veils; and
-it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell, there shall be
-a stink; and instead of a girdle, a rent; and instead of well-set
-hair, baldness; and instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth,
-and burning instead of beauty: thy men shall fall by the sword,
-and thy mighty in the war; and her gates shall lament and mourn,
-and she being desolate, shall sit upon the ground."[4] (Isa. iii.
-16-26.) Behold, O vain and foolish inhabitants of England and
-Europe, your folly and your doom! Yet read the prophet Ezekiel's
-vision of miserable Tyre, what punishment her pride and pleasure
-brought upon her; and amongst many other circumstances these are
-some: "These were thy merchants in all sorts of things; in blue
-clothes and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, emeralds,
-purple, fine linen, coral and agate, spices, with all precious
-stones, and gold, horses, chariots," &c.; for which hear part of
-her doom: "Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandize, and all thy
-company, which is in the midst, of thee, shall fall into the midst
-of the sea in the day of thy ruin; and the inhabitant of the isles
-shall be astonished at thee; and their merchants hiss at thee; thou
-shalt be a terror, and shalt be no more." (Ezek. xxvii.) Thus hath
-God declared his displeasure against the luxury of this wanton
-world. Yet further the prophet Zephaniah goes, for thus he speaks:
-"And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice,
-that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all
-such as are clothed with strange apparel." (Zeph. i. 8.) Of how
-evil consequence was it in those times, for the greatest men to
-give themselves the liberty of following the vain customs of other
-nations; or of changing the usual end of clothes, or apparel, to
-gratify foolish curiosity!
-
-  [4] The very practice, and garb, and vanity of this age being as
-  liable to the wrath of God, which hangs over England and Europe, and
-  is ready to be executed on their rebellious inhabitants.
-
-II. This did the Lord Jesus Christ expressly charge his disciples
-not to be careful about: insinuating that such as were could not be
-his disciples: for, says he, "Take no thought, saying, What shall
-we eat? or What shall we drink? or Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
-for after all these things do the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly
-Father knoweth that you have need of all these things: but seek ye
-first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things
-shall be added unto you." (Matt. vi. 31-33.) Under which of eating,
-and drinking, and apparel, he comprehends all external things
-whatsoever; and so much appears, as well because they are opposed
-to the kingdom of God and his righteousness, which are invisible
-and heavenly things, as those very matters he enjoins them not to
-be careful about, are the most necessary, and the most innocent
-in themselves. If then, in such cases, the minds of his disciples
-were not to be solicitous; much less in foolish, superstitious,
-idle inventions, to gratify the carnal appetites and minds of
-men: so certain it is that those who live therein are none of his
-followers, but the Gentiles; and as He elsewhere says, "The nations
-of the world who know not God." (Luke, xii. 22-30.) If now then the
-distinguishing mark between the disciples of Jesus and those of the
-world is, that one minds the things of heaven, and God's kingdom,
-that "stands in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost;"
-(Rom. xiv. 17;) being not careful of external matters, even the most
-innocent and necessary: and that the other minds eating, drinking,
-apparel, and the affairs of this world, with the lusts, pleasures,
-profits, and honours that belong to it; be you intreated for your
-souls' sakes, O inhabitants of England, to be serious, to reflect
-awhile upon yourselves what care and cost you are at of time and
-money, about foolish, nay vicious things: so far are you degenerated
-from the primitive Christian life. What buying and selling, what
-dealing and chaffering, what writing and posting, what toil and
-labour, what noise, hurry, bustle, and confusion, what study, what
-little contrivances and overreachings, what eating, drinking, vanity
-of apparel, most ridiculous recreations; in short, what rising
-early, going to bed late, expense of precious time is there about
-things that perish! View the streets, shops, exchanges, plays,
-parks, coffee-houses, &c. and is not the world, this fading world,
-written upon every face? Say not within yourselves, How otherwise
-should men live and the world subsist? The common, though frivolous
-objection. There is enough for all. Let some content themselves
-with less: a few things, plain and decent, serve a Christian life.
-It is lust, pride, avarice, that thrust men upon such folly: were
-God's kingdom more the exercise of their minds, these perishing
-entertainments would have but little of their time or thoughts.
-
-III. This self-denying doctrine was confirmed and enforced by the
-apostles in their example, as we have already shown; and in their
-precepts too, as we shall yet evince in those two most remarkable
-passages of Paul and Peter; where they do not only tell us what
-should be done, but also what should be denied and avoided: "In
-like manner I will, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel;
-with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair, or gold,
-or pearls, or costly array (then it seems these are immodest)
-but which becometh women professing godliness, with good works."
-(1 Tim. ii. 9, 10.) Absolutely implying, that those who attire
-themselves with gold, silver, broidered hair, pearls, costly array,
-cannot in so doing, be women professing godliness; making those
-very things to be contrary to modesty, and consequently that they
-are evil, and unbecoming women professing godliness. To which the
-apostle Peter joins another precept after the like sort, viz. "Whose
-adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair,
-and of wearing of gold, and of putting on of apparel:" what then?
-"But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not
-corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which
-is in the sight of God of great price." (1 Pet. iii. 3-5.) And as
-an inducement, he adds: "for after this manner in the old time the
-holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves." Which
-doth not only intimate that both holy women were so adorned, and
-that it behoves such as would be holy, and trust in the holy God,
-to be so adorned; but also, that they who used those forbidden
-ornaments, were the women and people in all ages, that, for all
-their talk, were not holy, nor did trust in God. Such are so far
-from trusting in God that the apostle Paul expressly says, that
-"she that liveth in pleasure is dead whilst she liveth." (1 Tim. v.
-6.) And the same apostle further enjoined, that Christians should
-have their conversation in heaven, and their minds fixed on things
-above: (Phil. iii. 20; Col. iii. 1-4; Rom. xiii. 13:) "walk honestly
-as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering
-and wantonness, not in envy and strife:" (Eph. v. 3, 4:) "let not
-fornication, uncleanness, or covetousness be once named among you:
-neither filthiness, nor foolish talking nor jesting, which are not
-convenient; but rather giving of thanks:" (Eph. iv. 29:) "let no
-corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is
-good, to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the
-hearers. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision
-for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." (Rom. xiii. 14; Eph.
-iv. 30.) And, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit; (intimating such
-conversation doth;) but be ye followers of God, as dear children:
-walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise; redeeming the time,
-because the days are evil." (Eph. v. 1, 15, 16.)
-
-IV. By this, measure yourselves, O inhabitants of this land, who
-think yourselves wronged, if not accounted Christians: see what
-proportion your life and spirit bear with these most holy and
-self-denying precepts and examples. Well, my friends, my soul mourns
-for you: I have been with and among you; your life and pastime are
-not strangers to my notice; and with compassion, yea, inexpressible
-pity, I bewail your folly. O that you would be wise! O that the just
-principle in yourselves would be heard! O that eternity had time
-to plead a little with you! Why should your beds, your glasses,
-your clothes, your tables, your loves, your plays, your parks,
-your treats, your recreations, poor perishing joys, have all your
-souls, your time, your care, your purse, and consideration? Be
-ye admonished, I beseech you, in the name of the living God, by
-one that some of you know hath had his share in these things, and
-consequently time to know how little the like vanities conduce to
-true and solid happiness. No, my Friends, God Almighty knows, and
-would to God, you would believe and follow me, they end in shame
-and sorrow. Faithful is that most holy One, who hath determined,
-that every man and woman shall reap what they sow: and will not
-trouble, anguish, and disappointment be a sad and dreadful harvest
-for you to reap, for all your misspent time and substance, about
-superfluities and vain recreations? Retire then; quench not the Holy
-Spirit in yourselves; redeem your precious abused time: frequent
-such conversation as may help you against your evil inclinations;
-so shall you follow the examples, and keep the precepts of Jesus
-Christ, and all his followers; for hitherto we have plainly
-demonstrated, that no such way of living, as is in request among
-you of the land, ever was, or can be, truly Christian.
-
-V. But the best recreation is to do good: and all Christian customs
-tend to temperance, and some good and beneficial end; which more or
-less may be in every action. (1 Pet. i. 15; Heb. x. 25; 1 Pet. iv.
-9-11; Matt. xxv. 36, 37; Phil. ii. 4; Ibid. iv. 8.) For instance, if
-men and women would be diligent to follow their respective callings;
-frequent the assemblies of religious people; visit sober neighbours
-to be edified, and wicked ones to reform them; be careful in the
-tuition of their children, exemplary to their servants; relieve
-the necessitous, see the sick, visit the imprisoned; administer
-to their infirmities and indispositions, endeavour peace amongst
-neighbours: also, study moderately such commendable and profitable
-arts, as navigation, arithmetic, geometry, husbandry, gardening,
-handicraft, medicine, &c.; and that women spin, sew, knit, weave,
-garden, preserve, and the like housewife and honest employments,
-the practice of the greatest and noblest matrons, and youth, among
-the very heathens; helping others, who for want are unable to keep
-servants, to ease them in their necessary affairs; often and private
-retirements from all worldly objects, to enjoy the Lord: secret and
-steady meditations on the divine life and heavenly inheritance;
-which to leave undone and prosecute other things, under the notion
-of recreations, is impiety; it is most vain in any to object, that
-they cannot do these always, and therefore why may not they use
-these common diversions? for I ask, what would such be at? what
-would they do? and what would they have? They that have trades
-have not time enough to do the half of what hath been recommended.
-And as for those who have nothing to do, and indeed do nothing,
-which is worse, but sin, which is worst of all, here is variety of
-pleasant, of profitable, yea, of very honourable employments and
-diversions for them. Such can with great delight sit at a play, a
-ball, a masque, at cards, dice, &c. drinking, revelling, feasting,
-and the like, an entire day; yea turn night into day, and invert the
-very order of the creation, to humour their lusts; (Amos, vi. 3-8;)
-and were it not for eating and sleeping, it would be past a doubt,
-whether they would ever find time to cease from those vain and
-sinful pastimes, till the hasty calls of death should summon their
-appearance in another world: yet do they think it intolerable, and
-hardly possible, for any to sit so long at a profitable or religious
-exercise.
-
-VI. But how do these think to pass their vast eternity away? "For
-as the tree falls, so it lies." (Eccl. xi. 3.) Let none deceive
-themselves, nor mock their immortal souls with a pleasant, but
-most false and pernicious dream, that they shall be changed by a
-constraining and irresistible power, just when their souls take
-leave of their bodies; no, no, my friends, "what you sow, that shall
-you reap:" (Gal. vi. 4-9; Eph. v. 6:) if vanity, folly, visible
-delights, fading pleasures; no better shall you ever reap than
-corruption, sorrow and the woful anguish of eternal disappointments.
-But alas! what is the reason that the cry is so common, Must we
-always dote on these things? Why most certainly it is this, they
-know not what is the joy and peace of speaking and acting, as in
-the presence of the most holy God: (Eph. iv. 18-20:) that passes
-such vain understandings, darkened with the glories and pleasures
-of the god of this world; (Rom. x. 2;) whose religion is so many
-mumbling and ignorantly devout said words, as they teach parrots;
-for if they were of those whose hearts are set on things above,
-and whose treasure is in heaven, there would their minds inhabit,
-and their greatest pleasure constantly be: and such who call that
-a burden, and seek to be refreshed by such pastimes as a play, a
-morrice-dance, a punchinello, a ball, a masque, cards, dice, or
-the like, I am bold to affirm, they not only never knew the divine
-excellency of God, and his truth, but thereby declare themselves
-most unfit for them in another world. For how is it possible, that
-they can be delighted to eternity with that satisfaction, which is
-so tedious and irksome for thirty or forty years, that, for a supply
-of recreation to their minds, the little toys and fopperies of this
-perishing world must be brought into practice and request? Surely,
-those who are to reckon for every idle word, (Matt. xii. 36,) must
-not use sports to pass away that time which they are commanded so
-diligently to redeem, considering no less work is to be done, than
-making their calling and election sure: (Eph. v. 16; Phil. iii. 14;
-2 Pet. i. 10; Col. iv. 5:) much less study to invent recreations
-for their vain minds, and spend the greatest part of their days,
-and months, and years therein, not allowing a quarter of that time
-toward the great concernment of their lives and souls, for which
-that time was given them.
-
-VII. There is but little need to drive away that, by foolish
-divertisements, which flies away so swiftly of itself; and when
-once gone, is never to be recalled. Plays, parks, balls, treats,
-romances, music, love-sonnets, and the like, will be a very invalid
-plea, for any other purpose than their condemnation who are taken
-and delighted with them, at the revelation of the righteous judgment
-of God. O my friends! these were never invented, but by that mind
-which had first lost the joy and ravishing delights of God's holy
-presence. So that we conclude first that of those many excellent
-employments already mentioned, as worthy to possess such minds as
-are inclined to these vanities, there is store enough of time, not
-only to take up their spare hours, but double so much, and that with
-great delight, diversion, and profit, both to themselves and others;
-were they but once weaned from vain and fruitless fopperies, and
-did they but consider, how great the satisfaction, and how certain
-the rewards are, which attend this, and the other life, for such
-universal benefits and virtuous examples. The second conclusion is,
-that what is alleged by me, can be displeasing and ungrateful to
-none, but such as know not what it is to walk with God, to prepare
-for an eternal mansion, to have the mind exercised on heavenly and
-good things, to follow the examples of the holy men and women of
-former happy ages: such as know not Christ's doctrine, life, death,
-and resurrection, but only have their minds fastened to the flesh,
-and by the objects of it are allured, deceived, and miserably
-ruined: and lastly, that despise heaven, and the joys that are not
-seen, though eternal, for a few perishing trifles that they do see;
-though they are decreed to pass away. (Rom. vi. 3-8; 1 Cor. xii. 13;
-Gal. iii. 27; Col. ii. 12, 13; Eph. iv. 13.) How these are baptized
-with Christ, into his holy life, cruel sufferings, shameful death,
-and raised with him to immortal desires, heavenly meditations, a
-divine new life, growing into the knowledge of heavenly mysteries,
-and all holiness, even unto the measure of the stature of Jesus
-Christ, the great example of all: how, I say, these resemble most
-necessary Christian qualifications, and what share they have
-therein, let their consciences tell them upon a serious inquiry in
-the cool of the day.
-
-VIII. But in the next place, such attire and pastimes do not only
-show the exceeding worldliness of people's inclinations, and their
-very great ignorance of the divine joys; but by imitating these
-fashions, and frequenting these places and diversions, not only
-much good is omitted, but a certain door is open to much evil to
-be committed: as first, precious time, that were worth a world on
-a dying bed, is lost: money that might be employed for the general
-good, vainly expended, pleasure is taken in mere shame; lusts
-are gratified, the minds of the people alienated from heavenly
-things, and exercised about mere folly; and men become acceptable
-by their trims and the à-la-modeness of their dress and apparel;
-from whence respect to persons doth so naturally arise, that to
-deny it is to affirm the sun shines not at noon-day; (James, ii.
-1-9;) nothing being more notorious than the cringing, scraping,
-sirring, and madaming of persons, according to the gaudiness
-of their attire: which is detestable to God, and so absolutely
-forbidden in the Scriptures, that to do it is to break the whole
-law, and consequently to incur the punishment thereof. Next, what
-great holes do the like practices make in men's estates! How are
-their vocations neglected, young women deluded, the marriage-bed
-invaded, contentions and family animosities begotten, partings of
-man and wife, disinheriting of children, dismissing of servants! On
-the other hand, servants made slaves, children disregarded, wives
-despised and shamefully abused, through the intemperance of their
-husbands; which either puts them upon the same extravagance, or
-laying such cruel injustice to heart, they pine away their days
-in grief and misery. But of all these wretched inventions, the
-playhouses, like so many hellish seminaries, do most perniciously
-conduce to these sad and miserable ends; where little besides
-frothy, wanton, if not directly obscene and profane humours are
-represented, which are of notoriously ill consequence upon the minds
-of most; especially the youth that frequent them. And thus it is
-that idle and debauched stages are encouraged and maintained; than
-which scarcely a greater abomination can be thought on of that rank
-of impieties, as will anon particularly be shown; and truly nothing
-but the excessive pleasure people take therein could blind their
-eyes from seeing it.
-
-IX. But lastly, the grand indisposition of mind in people to
-solid, serious, and heavenly meditations, by the almost continual,
-as well as pleasant rumination in their minds, of those various
-adventures they have been entertained with, which in the more
-youthful can never miss to inflame and animate their boiling and
-airy constitutions. (Job, xxxv. 13.) And in the rest of the common
-recreations of balls, masques, treats, cards, dice, &c. there are
-the like opportunities to promote the like evils. And yet further;
-how many quarrels, animosities, nay, murders too, as well as expense
-of estate and precious time, have been the immediate consequences of
-the like practices! In short, these were the ways of the Gentiles
-that knew not God, but never the practice of them that feared Him:
-(Eph. iv. 17-25:) nay, the more noble among the heathens themselves,
-namely, Anaxagoras, Socrates, Plato, Antisthenes, Heraclitus, Zeno,
-Aristides, Cato, Tully, Epictetus, Seneca, &c. have left their
-disgust to these things upon record, as odious and destructive, not
-only of the honour of the immortal God, but of all good order and
-government; as leading into looseness, idleness, ignorance, and
-effeminacy, the great cankers and bane of all states and empires.
-And the pretended innocency of these things steals away their minds
-from that which is better, into the love of them; nay, it gives them
-confidence to plead for them, and by no means will they think the
-contrary. But why? because it is a liberty that feeds the flesh and
-gratifies the lustful eye and palate of poor mortality: wherefore
-they think it a laudable condition to be no better than the beast,
-that eats and drinks but what his nature doth require; although the
-number is very small of such, so very exorbitant are men and women
-grown in this present age: for either they do believe their actions
-are to be ruled by their own will; or else at best, that not to be
-stained with the vilest wickedness is matter of great boasting:
-and indeed it is so in a time when nothing is too wicked to be
-done. But certainly, it is a sign of universal impiety in a land,
-when not to be guilty of the sins the very heathens loathe, is to
-be virtuous, yes, and Christian too, and that to no small degree
-of reputation: a dismal symptom to a country! But is it not to be
-greatly blinded, that those we call infidels should detest those
-practices as infamous which people that call themselves Christians,
-cannot or will not see to be such, but gild them over with the fair
-titles of ornaments, decency, recreation, and the like? Well, my
-friends, if there were no God, no heaven, no hell, no holy examples,
-no Jesus Christ, in cross, doctrine, and life, to be conformed unto;
-yet would charity to the poor, help to the needy, peace amongst
-neighbours, visits to the sick, care of the widow and fatherless,
-with the rest of those temporal good offices already repeated, be a
-nobler employment, and much more worthy of your expense and pains.
-Nor indeed is it to be conceived, that the way to glory is smoothed
-with such a variety of carnal pleasures; for then conviction, a
-wounded spirit, a broken heart, a regenerate mind; (Prov. xviii.
-14; Psalm li. 17; Matt. v. 4; Luke, vi. 25; Rom. ii. 7; Psalm
-xl. 8; Rom. vii. 22; Heb. xi. 13-16; Rom. i. 25-30;) in a word,
-immortality, would prove as mere fictions as some make them, and
-others therefore think them: no, these practices are for ever to be
-extinguished and expelled all Christian society. For I affirm, that
-to one who internally knows God, and hath a sense of his blessed
-presence, all such recreations are death; yea, more dangerously
-evil, and more apt to steal away the mind from the heavenly
-exercise, than grosser impieties. For they are so big they are
-plainly seen; so dirty, they are easily detected: which education
-and common temperance, as well as constitution in many, teach them
-to abhor: and if they should be committed, they carry with them a
-proportionable conviction. But these pretended innocents, these
-supposed harmless satisfactions, (Job, i. 4,) are more surprising,
-more destructive: for as they easily gain an admission by the
-senses, so the more they pretend to innocency the more they secure
-the minds of people in the common use of their evil consequences,
-that with a mighty confidence they can plead for them.
-
-X. But as this is plainly not to deny themselves, (1 John, ii.
-15-17,) but on the contrary, to employ the vain inventions of
-carnal men and women, to gratify the desire of the eye, the desire
-of the flesh, and the pride of life, (all which exercise the mind
-below the divine and only true pleasure, or else, tell me what
-does,) so be it known to be such, that the heavenly life and
-Christian joys are of another kind, as hath already been expressed:
-yea, that the true disciples of the Lord Christ must be hereunto
-crucified, as to objects and employments that attract downwards,
-and that their affections should be raised to a more sublime and
-spiritual conversation, as to use this world, even in its most
-innocent enjoyments, as if they used it not. But if they take
-pleasure in anything below, it should be in such good offices as
-before mentioned, whereby a benefit may redound in some respect
-to others: in which God is honoured over all visible things, the
-nation relieved, the government bettered, themselves rendered
-exemplary of good, and thereby justly entitled to present happiness,
-a sweet memorial with posterity, as well as to a seat at his right
-hand, where there are joys and pleasures for ever: (Job, xxxvi. 7;
-Psalm v. 12; Prov. x. 7, 11:) than which there can be nothing more
-honourable, nothing more certain, world without end.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI.
-
-     1. Luxury should not be used by Christians, because of its
-     inconsistency with the spirit of Christianity.--2. The cup of
-     which Christ's true disciples drank.--3. O! who will drink of
-     this cup!--4. An objection answered of the nature of God's
-     kingdom, and what it stands in.--5. Of the frame of the spirit
-     of Christ's followers.
-
-
-I. But the luxury opposed in this discourse should not be allowed
-among Christians, because both that which invents it, delights in
-it, and pleads so strongly for it, is inconsistent with the true
-spirit of Christianity; nor doth the very nature of the Christian
-religion admit thereof. For therefore was it, that immortality and
-eternal life were brought to light, that all the invented pleasures
-of mortal life, in which the world lives, might be denied and
-relinquished: and for this reason it is, that nothing less than
-immense rewards and eternal mansions are promised, that men and
-women might therefore be encouraged willingly to forsake the vanity
-and fleshly satisfactions of the world, and encounter with boldness
-the shame and sufferings they must expect to receive at the hand of,
-it may be, their nearest intimates and relations.
-
-For if the Christian religion had admitted the possession of this
-world in any other sense than the simple and naked use of those
-creatures, really given of God for the necessity and convenience
-of the whole creation; for instance, did it allow all that pride,
-vanity, curiosity, pomp, exchange of apparel, honours, preferments,
-fashions, and the customary recreations of the world, with whatever
-may delight and gratify their senses; then what need of a daily
-cross; a self-denying life; working out salvation with fear and
-trembling; seeking the things that are above; having the treasure
-and heart in heaven; no idle talking, no vain jesting, but fearing
-and meditating all the day long; undergoing all reproach, scorn,
-hard usage, bitter mockings, and cruel deaths? What need these
-things? And why should they be expected in order to that glorious
-immortality and eternal crown, if the vanity, pride, expense,
-idleness, concupiscence, envy, malice, and whole manner of living
-among the called Christians, were allowed by the Christian religion?
-No certainly; but as the Lord Jesus Christ well knew in what foolish
-trifles and vain pleasures, as well as grosser impieties, the minds
-of men and women were fixed, and how much they were degenerated from
-the heavenly principle of life, into a lustful or unlawful seeking
-after the enjoyments of this perishing world, nay, inventing daily
-new satisfactions to gratify the carnal appetites, so did He not
-less foresee the difficulty that all would have to relinquish and
-forsake them at his call, and with what great unwillingness they
-would take their leave of them, and be weaned from them. Wherefore
-to induce them to it, He did not speak unto them in the language of
-the law, that they should have an earthly Canaan, great dignities, a
-numerous issue, a long life, and the like: no, rather the contrary,
-at least to take these things in their course; but He speaks to them
-in a higher strain; namely, He assures them of a kingdom and a crown
-that are immortal, that neither time, cruelty, death, grave, or
-hell, with all its instruments, shall ever be able to disappoint or
-take away from those who should believe and obey Him. Further, that
-they should be taken into that near alliance of loving friends, yea,
-the intimate divine relation of dear brethren, and co-heirs with Him
-of all celestial happiness, and a glorious immortality. Wherefore,
-if it be recorded that those who heard not Moses were to die, much
-more they who refuse to hear and obey the precepts of this great and
-eternal Rewarder of all that diligently seek and follow Him.
-
-II. And therefore it was that He was pleased to give us, in his
-own example, a taste of what his disciples must expect to drink
-deeply of, namely, the cup of self-denial, cruel trials, and most
-bitter afflictions: He came not to consecrate a way to the eternal
-rest, through gold, and silver, ribbons, laces, prints, perfumes,
-costly clothes, curious trims, exact dresses, rich jewels, pleasant
-recreations, plays, treats, balls, masques, revels, romances,
-love-songs, and the like pastimes of the world: no, no, alas! but
-by forsaking all such kind of entertainments, yea, and sometimes
-more lawful enjoyments too; and cheerfully undergoing the loss
-of all on the one hand, and the reproach, ignominy, and the most
-cruel persecution from ungodly men on the other. He needed never
-to have wanted such variety of worldly pleasures, had they been
-suitable to the nature of his kingdom: for He was tempted, as are
-his followers, with no less bait than all the glories of the world:
-but He commanded to seek another country, and to lay up treasures in
-the heavens that fade not away; and therefore charged them never to
-be much inquisitive about what they should eat, drink, or put on,
-"because," saith He, "after these things the Gentiles," that know
-not God, "do seek;" (Matt. vi. 29-33;) (and Christians that pretend
-to know Him too,) but "having food and raiment, therewith to be
-content:" (1 Tim. vi. 11:) He, I say, that enjoined this doctrine,
-and led that holy and heavenly example, even the Lord Jesus Christ,
-bade them that would be his disciples take up the same cross, and
-follow Him (Luke, xiv. 26, 27, 33.)
-
-III. O who will follow Him! Who will be true Christians? We must
-not think to steer another course, nor to drink of another cup, than
-hath the Captain of our salvation done before us: (Heb. ii. 10:) no,
-for it is the very question He asked James and John, the sons of
-Zebedee of old, when they desired to sit at his right and left hand
-in his kingdom, "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink
-of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
-(Matt. xx. 22.) Otherwise no disciples, no Christians. Whoever they
-are that would come to Christ, and be right Christians, must readily
-abandon every delight that would steal away the affections of the
-mind, and exercise it from the divine principle of life, and freely
-write a bill of divorce for every beloved vanity; and all, under the
-Sun of Righteousness is so, compared with Him.
-
-Objection 1. IV. But some are ready to object, who will not seem to
-want Scripture for their lusts, although it be evidently misapplied.
-The kingdom of God stands not in meats, or in drinks, or in apparel,
-&c. Answer. Right; therefore it is that we stand out of them. But
-surely you have the least reason of any to object this to us,
-who make those things so necessary to conversation, as our not
-conforming to them renders us obnoxious to your reproach; which how
-Christian, or resembling it is of the righteousness, peace, and joy
-in which the heavenly kingdom stands, let the just principle in your
-own consciences determine. Our conversation stands in temperance,
-and that stands in righteousness, by which we have obtained that
-kingdom, your latitude and excess have no share or interest in.
-If none, therefore, can be true disciples but they that come to
-bear the daily cross, but those who follow the example of the Lord
-Jesus Christ, (Phil. iii. 10; 1 Pet. iv. 13; Tit. ii. 11-13; John,
-i. 9; Rom. vi. 6; Gal. ii. 20; v. 24; vi. 4,) through his baptism,
-afflictions, and temptations; and that none are so baptized with
-Him but those whose minds are retired from the vanities in which
-the generality of the world live, and become obedient to the holy
-light and divine grace with which they have been enlightened from
-on high, and thereby are daily exercised to the crucifying of
-every contrary affection, and bringing of immortality to light;
-if none are true disciples but such, as most undoubtedly they are
-not, then let the people of these days a little soberly reflect
-upon themselves, and they will conclude that none who live and
-delight in these vain customs and this un-christ-like conversation
-can be true Christians, or disciples of the crucified JESUS: for
-otherwise, how would it be a cross; or the Christian life matter of
-difficulty and reproach? No, the offence of the cross would soon
-cease, which is "the power of God to them that believe;" (Gal. v.
-11; 1 Cor. i. 18;) that every lust and vanity may be subdued, and
-the creature brought into a holy subjection of mind to the heavenly
-will of its Creator. For therefore has it been said, that Jesus
-Christ was and is manifested, that by his holy self-denying life and
-doctrine, and by the immortality He brought, and daily brings to
-light, He might stain the glory of their fading rests and pleasures;
-(1 Cor. i. 27-29;) that having their minds weaned from them, and
-being crucified thereunto, they might seek another country, and
-obtain an everlasting inheritance: for "the things that are seen
-are temporal," (2 Cor. iv. 18,) and those they were, and all true
-Christians are, to be redeemed from resting in: but the things that
-are not seen are eternal; those they were, and all are to be brought
-to, and have their affections chiefly fixed upon.
-
-V. Wherefore a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is to have his
-mind so conversant about heavenly things, that the things of this
-world may be used as if they were not: that having such things as
-are necessary and convenient, he be therewith content, without the
-superfluity of the world; (1 Tim. vi. 8;) whereby the pleasure that
-in times of ignorance was taken in the customs and fashions of the
-world, may more abundantly be supplied in the hidden and heavenly
-life of Jesus: for unless there be an abiding in Christ, it will be
-impossible to bring forth that much fruit (John, xv. 4, 7, 8,) which
-He requires at the hand of his followers, and wherein his Father is
-glorified. But as it is clear that such as live in the vanities,
-pleasures, recreations, and lusts of the world, abide not in Him,
-neither know Him, for they that know Him depart from iniquity; so
-is their abiding and delighting in those bewitching follies, the
-very reason why they are so ignorant and insensible of Him: Him who
-continually stands knocking at the door of their hearts; (Rev. iii.
-20;) in whom they ought to abide, and whose divine power they should
-know to be the cross on which every beloved lust and alluring vanity
-should be slain and crucified; that so they might feel the heavenly
-life to spring up in their hearts, and themselves to be quickened
-to seek the things that are above; that when Christ shall appear,
-they might appear with Him in glory who is over all, God blessed for
-ever. (Col. iii. 1; Rom. ix. 5.) Amen.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII.
-
-     1. The customs, fashions, &c. which make up the attire and
-     pleasure of the age, are enemies to inward retirement.--2. Their
-     end is to gratify lust.--3. Had they been solid, Adam and Eve
-     had not been happy, that never had them.--4. But the confidence
-     and presumption of Christians, as they would be called, in the
-     use of them is abominable.--5. Their authors further condemn
-     them, who are usually loose and vain people.--6. Mostly
-     borrowed of the Gentiles, that knew not God.--7. An objection
-     of their usefulness considered and answered, and the objectors
-     reproved.--8. The best heathens abhorring what pretended
-     Christians plead for.--9. The use of these things encourages
-     the authors and makers of them to continue in them.--10. The
-     objection of the maintenance of families answered. None must
-     do evil, that good should follow: but better employments may
-     be found more serviceable to the world.--11. Another objection
-     answered: GOD no author of their inventions, and so not
-     excusable by his institution.--12. People pleading for these
-     vanities show what they are. An exhortation to the weighty and
-     considerate. A great part of the way to true discipleship, is to
-     abandon the school and shop of Satan.
-
-
-I. Next, those customs and fashions, which make up the common attire
-and conversation of the times, do eminently obstruct the inward
-retirement of people's minds, by which they may come to behold the
-glories of immortality: who instead of fearing their Creator in the
-days of their youth, and seeking the kingdom of God in the first
-place, (Eccl. xii. 1; Luke, xii. 31,) expecting the addition of such
-other things as may be necessary and convenient, according to the
-injunctions of God and the Lord Jesus Christ; as soon as they can
-do anything, they look after pride, vanity, and that conversation
-which is most delightful to the flesh, (Jer. xviii. 18-20,) which
-becomes their most delightful entertainment: all which do but
-evidently beget lustful conceptions, and inflame to inordinate
-thoughts, wanton discourses, lascivious treats, if not at last to
-wicked actions. To such it is tedious and offensive to speak of
-heaven or another life. Bid them reflect upon their actions, not
-grieve the Holy Spirit, consider of an eternal doom, prepare for
-judgment; and the best return that is usual is reproachful jests,
-(Eph. v. 3, 4,) profane repartees, if not direct blows. Their
-thoughts are otherwise employed: their mornings are too short for
-them to wash, to smooth, to paint, to patch, to braid, to curl,
-to gum, to powder, and otherwise to attire and adorn themselves;
-(Psalm xii. 2; Isa. v.; xii.; lix. 3, 4;) whilst their afternoons
-are as commonly bespoke for visits and for plays; where their
-usual entertainment is some stories fetched from the more approved
-romances; some strange adventures, some passionate amours, unkind
-refusals, grand impediments, importunate addresses, miserable
-disappointments, wonderful surprises, unexpected encounters, castles
-surprised, imprisoned lovers rescued, and meetings of supposed dead
-ones; bloody duels, languishing voices echoing from solitary groves,
-overheard mournful complaints, deep-fetched sighs sent from wild
-deserts, intrigues managed with unheard-of subtlety; and whilst
-all things seem at the greatest distance, then are dead people
-alive, enemies friends, despair turned to enjoyment, and all their
-impossibilities reconciled: things that never were, nor are, nor
-ever shall or can be, they all come to pass. And as if men and women
-were too slow to answer the loose suggestions of corrupt nature; or
-were too intent on more divine speculations and heavenly affairs,
-they have all that is possible for the most extravagant wits to
-invent; not only express lies, but utter impossibilities to very
-nature, on purpose to excite their minds to those idle passions,
-and intoxicate their giddy fancies with swelling nothings but airy
-fictions: which not only consume their time, effeminate their
-natures, debase their reason, and set them on work to reduce these
-things to practice, and make each adventure theirs by imitation;
-but if disappointed,--as who can otherwise expect from such mere
-phantasms?--the present remedy is latitude in the greatest vice. And
-yet these are some of their most innocent recreations, which are
-the very gins of Satan, to ensnare people; contrived most agreeable
-to their weakness, and in a more insensible manner mastering their
-affections by entertainments most taking to their senses. On such
-occasions it is their hearts breed vanity, and their eyes turn
-interpreters to their thoughts, and their looks do whisper the
-secret inflammations of their intemperate minds; (Prov. vii. 10-21;)
-wandering so long abroad, till their lascivious actings bring night
-home, and load their minds and reputations with lust and infamy.
-
-II. Here is the end of all their fashions and recreations, to
-gratify the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of
-life: (1 John, ii. 15, 16:) clothes that were given to cover, now
-want a covering for their shameful excess; and that which should
-remind men of lost innocency, they pride and glory in: but the
-hundredth part of these things cost man the loss of Paradise, that
-now make up the agreeable recreation, aye, the accomplishment of the
-times. For as it was Adam's fault to seek a satisfaction to himself,
-other than what God ordained; so it is the exercise, pleasure,
-and perfection of the age, to spend the greatest portion of their
-time in vanities, which are so far from the end of their creation,
-namely, a divine life, that they are destructive of it.
-
-III. Were the pleasures of the age true and solid, Adam and Eve
-had been miserable in their innocency, who knew them not: but
-as it was once their happiness, not to know them in any degree;
-so it is theirs, that know Christ indeed, to be by his eternal
-power redeemed and raised to the love of immortality: which is yet
-a mystery to those who live and have pleasure in their curious
-trims, rich and changeable apparel, nicety of dress, invention and
-imitation of fashions, costly attire, mincing gaits, wanton looks,
-romances, plays, treats, balls, feasts, and the like conversation
-in request: for as these had never been, if man had staid at home
-with his Creator, and given the entire exercise of his mind to the
-noble ends of his creation; so certain it is, that the use of these
-vanities, is not only a sign that men and women are yet ignorant
-of their true rest and pleasure, but it greatly obstructs and
-hinders the retirement of their minds, and their serious inquiry
-after those things that are eternal. O that there should be so much
-noise, clutter, invention, traffic, curiosity, diligence, pains, and
-vast expense of time and estate, to please and gratify poor vain
-mortality! And that the soul, the very image of divinity itself,
-should have so little of their consideration. What, O what more
-pregnant instances and evident tokens can be given, that it is the
-body, the senses, the case, a little flesh and bone covered with
-skin, the toys, fopperies, and very vanities of this mortal life and
-perishing world, that please, that take, that gain them; on which
-they dote; and think they never have too much time, love, or money
-to bestow upon them!
-
-IV. Thus are their minds employed; and so vain are they in their
-imaginations, and dark in their understandings, that they not
-only believe them innocent, but persuade themselves they are good
-Christians all this while; and to rebuke them is worse than heresy.
-(Luke, viii. 14; Prov. i. 30, x. 17, xii. 1, xv. 14; Isa. lvii.
-1-10; Jer. xvi. 19-21; Mat. vi. 7.) Thus are they strangers to the
-hidden life; and by these things are they diverted from all serious
-examination of themselves: and a forced zeal of half-an-hour's talk
-in other men's words, which they have nothing to do with, is made
-sufficient; being no more their states, or at least their intention,
-as their works show, than it was the young man's in the Gospel, that
-said, he would go, and did not. But alas! why? O there are other
-guests! What are they? Pharamond, Cleopatra, Cassandra, Clelia; a
-play, a ball a spring-garden; the park, the gallant, the exchange,
-in a word, the world. These stay, these call, these are importunate,
-and these they attend, and these are their most familiar associates.
-Thus are their hearts captivated from the divine exercise; nay,
-from such external affairs, as immediately concern some benefit
-to themselves, or needy neighbours; pleasing themselves with the
-received ideas of those toys and fopperies into their loose and airy
-minds; and if in all things they cannot practise them, because they
-want the means of it, yet as much as may be, at least to dote upon
-them, be taken with them, and willingly suffer their thoughts to
-be hurried after them. All which greatly indisposes the minds, and
-distracts the souls of people from the divine life and principle of
-the holy Jesus; but, as it hath been often said, more especially
-the minds of the younger sort: to whom the like divertisements
-(Jer. ii. 5,) (where their inclinations being presented with what
-is very suitable to them, they become excited to more vanity than
-ever they thought upon before,) are incomparably dearer than all
-that can be said of God's fear, a retired life, eternal rewards,
-and joys unspeakable and full of glory: so vain, so blind, and so
-very insensible are men and women, of what truly makes a disciple
-of Christ. (Rom. xiii. 11, 12; Matt. xv. 7-14.) O! that they would
-ponder on these things, and watch against, and come out of all these
-vanities, for the coming of the Lord, lest being unprepared, and
-taken up with other guests, they enter not into his everlasting rest.
-
-V. That which further manifests the unlawfulness of these numerous
-fashions and recreations is, that they are either the inventions of
-vain, idle, and wanton minds, to gratify their own sensualities,
-and raise the like wicked curiosity in others, to imitate the
-same; by which nothing but lust and folly are promoted: or the
-contrivances of indigent and impoverished wits, who make it the
-next way for their maintenance: in both which respects, and upon
-both which considerations, they ought to be detested. For the first
-licenses express impiety, and the latter countenances a wretched
-way of livelihood, and consequently diverts from more lawful, more
-serviceable, and more necessary employments. That such persons
-are both the inventors and actors of all these follies, cannot
-be difficult to demonstrate: for were it possible, that any one
-could bring us father Adam's girdle, and mother Eve's apron, what
-laughing, what fleering, what mocking of their homely fashions
-would there be! Surely their tailor would find but little custom,
-although we read, it was God himself that made them coats of skins.
-(Gen. iii. 21.) The like may be asked of all the other vanities,
-concerning the holy men and women through all the generations of
-holy writ. How many pieces of ribbon, and what feathers, lace-bands,
-and the like, did Adam and Eve wear in Paradise, or out of it?
-What rich embroideries, silks, points, &c. had Abel, Enoch, Noah,
-and good old Abraham? Did Eve, Sarah, Susannah, Elizabeth, and the
-Virgin Mary use to curl, powder, patch, paint, wear false locks, or
-strange colours, rich points, trimmings, laced gowns, embroidered
-petticoats, shoes with slip-slaps, laced with silver or silver lace,
-and ruffled like pigeons' feet, with several yards, if not pieces of
-ribbons? How many plays did Jesus Christ and his apostles recreate
-themselves at? What poets, romances, comedies, and the like did the
-apostles and saints make, or use to pass away their time withal? I
-know, they bid all redeem their time, to avoid foolish talking, vain
-jesting, profane babblings, and fabulous stories; (Eph. v. 1-5, 15,
-16; 2 Tim. ii. 16, 22; Matt. xxv. 13; Phil. ii. 12, 13; Col. iii.
-1, 2, 5;) as what tend to godliness: and rather to watch, to work
-out their salvation with fear and trembling, to flee foolish and
-youthful lusts, and to follow righteousness, peace, goodness, love,
-charity; and to mind the things that are above as they would have
-honour, glory, immortality, and eternal life.
-
-VI. But if I were asked, Whence came they then? I could quickly
-answer, From the Gentiles, that knew not God; for some amongst
-them detested them, as will be shown; they were the pleasures
-of an effeminate Sardanapalus, a fantastic Miracles, a comical
-Aristophanes, a prodigal Charaxus, a luxurious Aristippus; and the
-practices of such women as the infamous Clytemnestra, the painted
-Jezebel, the lascivious Campaspe, the immodest Posthumia, the costly
-Corinthian Lais, the most impudent Flora, the wanton Egyptian
-Cleopatra, and most insatiable Messalina: persons whose memories
-have stunk through all ages, and that carry with them a perpetual
-rot: these, and not the holy self-denying men and women in ancient
-times, were devoted to the like recreations and vain delights.
-Nay, the more sober of the very heathens themselves, and that upon
-a principle of great virtue, as is by all confessed, detested the
-like folly and wanton practices. There is none of them to be found
-in Plato, or in Seneca's works: Pythagoras, Socrates, Phocion,
-Zeno, &c. did not accustom themselves to these entertainments. The
-virtuous Penelope, the chaste Lucretia, and the grave Cornelia, with
-many others, could find themselves employment enough among their
-children, servants, and neighbours; they, though nobles, next to
-their devotion, delighted most in spinning, weaving, gardening,
-needlework, and such like good housewifery, and commendable
-entertainment: who, though called Heathens, expressed much more
-Christianity in all their actions, than do the wanton, foolish
-people of this age, who notwithstanding will be called Christians.
-But above all, you playmongers, whence think you, came your so
-passionately beloved comedies; than which, as there is not any one
-diversion that is more pernicious, so not one more in esteem, and
-fondly frequented? Why, I will tell you; their greatgrandfather was
-a Heathen, and that not of the best sort: his name was Epicharmus.
-It is true, he is called a philosopher, or a lover of wisdom; but he
-was only so by name; and no more in reality than the comedians of
-these times are true Christians. It is reported of him by Suidas, a
-Greek historian, that he was the first man who invented comedies;
-and by the help of one Phormus, he made also fifty fables. But would
-you know his country, and the reason of his invention? His country
-was Syracuse, the chief city in Sicily, famous for the infamy of
-many tyrants; to please and gratify the lusts of some of whom, he
-set his wits to work. And do not you think this an ill original?
-And is it less in any one to imitate, or justify the same, since
-the more sober Heathens have themselves condemned them? Nay, is it
-not abominable, when such as call themselves Christians, do both
-imitate and justify the like inventions? Nor had the melancholy
-tragedies a better parentage, namely, one Thespis, an Athenian poet;
-to whom they also do ascribe the original of that impudent custom
-of painting faces, and the counterfeit, or representation of other
-persons, by change of habit, humours, &c., all which are now so much
-in use and reputation with the great ones of the times. To these let
-me add that poetical _amoroso_, whom an inordinate passion of love
-first transported to those poetical raptures of admiration, indeed
-sordid effeminacy, if not idolatry; they call him Alcman or Alcina,
-a Lydian: he being exceedingly in love with a young woman of his own
-country, is said to have been the first person that gave the world a
-sight of that kind of folly, namely, love stories, and verses; which
-have been so diligently imitated by almost all nations ever since in
-their romances.
-
-Objection 2. VII. I know that some will say, But we have many
-comedies and tragedies, sonnets, catches, &c. that are on purpose to
-reprehend vice, from whence we learn many commendable things. Though
-this be shameful, yet many have been wont, for want of shame or
-understanding, or both, to return me this for answer. Now I readily
-shall confess, that amongst the heathens it was the next remedy
-against the common vices to the more grave and moral lectures of
-their philosophers, of which number I shall instance two: Euripides,
-whom Suidas calls a learned tragical poet, and Eupolis, whom the
-same historian calls a comical poet. The first was a man so chaste,
-and therefore so unlike those of our days, that he was called one
-that hated women, that is, wanton ones, for otherwise he was twice
-married; the other he characters as a most severe reprehender of
-faults. From which I gather, that their design was not to feed the
-idle lazy fancies of people, nor merely to get money; but since
-by the means of loose wits the people had been debauched, their
-work was to reclaim them, rendering vice ridiculous, and turning
-wit against wickedness. And this appears the rather, from the
-description given, as also that Euripides was supposed to have been
-torn in pieces by wanton women; which doubtless was for declaiming
-against their impudence: and the other being slain in the battle
-betwixt the Athenians and Lacedæmonians, was so regretted, that a
-law was made, that never after such poets should be allowed to bear
-arms: doubtless it was because in losing him they lost a reprover
-of vice. So that the end of the approved comedians and tragedians
-of those times was but to reform the people by making sin odious:
-and that not so much by a rational and argumentative way, usual
-with their philosophers; as by sharp jeers, severe reflections,
-and rendering their vicious actions shameful, ridiculous, and
-detestable; so that for reputation sake they might not longer be
-guilty of them: which is to me but a little softer than a whip or a
-bridewell. Now if you that plead for them will be contented to be
-accounted heathens, and those of the more dissolute and wicked sort
-too, that will sooner be jeered than argued out of your sins, we
-shall acknowledge to you that such comedies and tragedies as these
-may be serviceable; but then for shame abuse not the name of Jesus
-Christ so impudently as to call yourselves Christians, whose lusts
-are so strong, that you are forced to use the low shifts of heathens
-to repel them: to leave their evils not for the love of virtue, but
-out of fear, shame, or reputation. Is this your love to Jesus, your
-reverence to the Scriptures, that through faith are able to make the
-man of God perfect? Is all your prattle about ordinances, prayers,
-sacraments, Christianity, and the like, come to this; that at last
-you must betake yourselves to such instructors as were by the sober
-heathens permitted to reclaim the most vicious of the people that
-were amongst them? And such remedies too as below which there is
-nothing but corporal punishment?
-
-VIII. This is so far from Christianity, that many of the nobler
-heathens, men and women, were better taught, and better disposed;
-they found out more heavenly contemplations, and subjects of an
-eternal nature to meditate upon. Nay, so far did they outstrip
-the Christians of these times, that they not only were exemplary
-by their grave and sober conversation; but for their public
-benefit the Athenians instituted the Gynæcosmi, or twenty men,
-who should make it their business to observe the people's apparel
-and behaviour; that if any were found immodest, and to demean
-themselves loosely, they had full authority to punish them. But
-the case is altered; it is punishable to reprove such: yes, it is
-matter of the greatest contumely and reproach. Nay, so impudent
-are some grown in their impieties, that they sport themselves with
-such religious persons: and not only manifest a great neglect of
-piety, and a severe life by their own looseness, but their extreme
-contempt of it, by rendering it ridiculous, through comical and
-abusive jests on public stages. Which, how dangerous it is, and apt
-to make religion little worth in the people's eyes, besides the
-demonstration of this age, let us remember that Aristophanes had not
-a readier way to bring the reputation of Socrates in question with
-the people, who greatly reverenced him for his grave and virtuous
-life and doctrine, than by his abusive representations of him in
-a play: which made the airy, wanton, unstable crowd, rather part
-with Socrates in earnest, than Socrates in jest. Nor can a better
-reason be given why the poor Quakers are made so much the scorn of
-men, than because of their severe reprehensions of sin and vanity,
-and their self-denying conversation, amidst so great intemperance
-in all worldly satisfactions: yet can such libertines all this
-while strut and swell for Christians, and strut it out against
-precept and example; but we must be whimsical, conceited, morose,
-melancholy, or else heretics, deceivers, and what not? O blindness!
-Pharisaical hypocrisy! As if such were fit to be judges of religion;
-or that it were possible for them to have a sight and sense of
-true religion, or really to be religious, whilst darkened in their
-understandings by the god of the pleasures of this world; and
-their minds so wrapped up in external enjoyments, and the variety
-of worldly delight: no, in the name of the everlasting God, you
-mock Him, and deceive your souls; for the wrath of the Almighty is
-against you all, whilst in that spirit and condition; in vain are
-all your babbles and set performances, God laughs you to scorn; his
-anger is kindling because of these things: wherefore be ye warned to
-temperance, and repent.
-
-IX. Besides, this sort of people are not only wicked, loose, and
-vain, who both invent and act these things; but by your great
-delight in such vain inventions you encourage them therein, and
-hinder them from more honest and more serviceable employments. For
-what is the reason that most commodities are held at such excessive
-rates, but because labour is so very dear? And why is it so, but
-because so many hands are otherwise bestowed, even about the very
-vanity of all vanities? Nay, how common is it with these mercenary
-procurers to people's folly, that when their purses begin to grow
-low, they shall present them with a new and pretendedly more
-convenient fashion; and that perhaps before the former costly habits
-shall have done half their service; which either must be given away,
-or new vamped in the cut _most à-la-mode_. O prodigal, yet frequent
-folly!
-
-Objection 3. X. I know I am coming to encounter the most plausible
-objection they are used to urge when driven to a pinch, viz. But
-how shall those many families subsist whose livelihood depends upon
-such fashions and recreations as you so earnestly decry? I answer:
-it is a bad argument to plead for the commission of the least evil
-that never so great a good may come of it: if you and they have
-made wickedness your pleasure and your profit, be ye content that
-it should be your grief and punishment till the one can learn to
-be without such vanity, and the others have found out more honest
-employments. It is the vanity of the few great ones that makes
-so much toil for the many small: and the great excess of the one
-occasions the great labour of the other. Would men learn to be
-contented with few things, such as are necessary and convenient,
-(the ancient Christian life,) all things might be at a cheaper rate,
-and men might live for little. If the landlords had less lusts to
-satisfy, the tenants might have less rent to pay, and turn from poor
-to rich, whereby they might be able to find more honest and domestic
-employments for their children than becoming sharpers and living by
-their wits, which is but a better word for their sins. And if the
-report of the more intelligent in husbandry be credible, lands are
-generally improvable ten in twenty: and were there more hands about
-more lawful and serviceable manufactures, they would be cheaper,
-and greater vent might be made of them, by which a benefit would
-redound to the world in general; nay, the burden lies the heavier
-upon the laborious country, that so many hands and shoulders as have
-the lust-caterers of the cities, should be wanting to the plough and
-useful husbandry. If men never think themselves rich enough, they
-may never miss of trouble and employment; but those who can take the
-primitive state and God's creation for their model, may learn with
-a little to be contented; as knowing that desires after wealth do
-not only prevent or destroy true faith, but when got increase snares
-and trouble. It is no evil to repent of evil: but that cannot be,
-whilst men maintain what they should repent of: it is a bad argument
-to avoid temperance, or justify the contrary, because otherwise
-the actors and inventors of excess would want a livelihood; since
-to feed them that way is to nurse the cause instead of starving
-it. Let such of those vanity hucksters as have got sufficient, be
-contented to retreat, and spend it more honestly than they got it;
-and such as really are poor, be rather helped by charity to better
-callings: this were more prudent, nay Christian, than to consume
-money upon such foolish toys and fopperies. Public workhouses would
-be effectual remedies to all these lazy and lustful distempers,
-with more profit and a better conscience. Therefore it is that we
-cannot, we dare not square our conversation by the world's: no, but
-by our plainness and moderation to testify against such extravagant
-vanities; and by our grave and steady life to manifest our dislike,
-on God's behalf, to such intemperate and wanton curiosity: yea, to
-deny ourselves what otherwise perhaps we lawfully could use with a
-just indifferency, if not satisfaction; because of that abuse that
-is amongst the generality.
-
-Objection 4. XI. I know, that some are ready further to object: Hath
-God given us these enjoyments on purpose to condemn us, if we use
-them? Answer: But to such miserable, poor, silly souls, who would
-rather charge the most high and holy God with the invention or
-creation of their dirty vanities, than want a plea to justify their
-own practice, not knowing how, for shame, or fear, or love to throw
-them off; I answer, that what God made for man's use, was good, and
-what the blessed Lord Jesus Christ allowed or enjoined, or gave
-us in his most heavenly example, is to be observed, believed, and
-practised. (Luke, viii. 14; xii. 28-31.) But in the whole catalogue
-the Scriptures give of both, I never found the attires, recreations,
-and way of living, so much in request with the generality of the
-Christians of these times: no certainly, God created man a holy,
-wise, sober, grave, and reasonable creature, fit to govern himself
-and the world: but divinity was then the great object of his reason
-and pleasure; all external enjoyments of God's giving being for
-necessity, convenience, and lawful delight, with this proviso
-too, that the Almighty was to be seen, and sensibly enjoyed and
-reverenced in every one of them. But how very wide the Christians
-of these times are from this primitive institution is not difficult
-to determine, although they make such loud pretensions to that most
-holy Jesus, who not only gave the world a certain evidence of a
-happy restoration, by his own coming, but promised his assistance
-to all that would follow Him in the self-denial and way of his holy
-cross; (John, viii. 12; xv. 7, 8; xvii. 20;) and therefore hath so
-severely enjoined no less on all, as they would be everlastingly
-saved. But whether the minds of men and women are not as profoundly
-involved in all excess and vanity, as those who know Him not any
-further than by hearsay; and whether being thus banished the
-presence of the Lord, by their greedy seeking the things that are
-below, and thereby having lost the taste of divine pleasure, they
-have not feigned to themselves an imaginary pleasure, to quiet or
-smother conscience, and pass their time without that anguish and
-trouble which are the consequences of sin, that so they might be
-at ease and security while in the world, let their own consciences
-declare. (Rom. ii. 8, 9.) Adam's temptation is represented by
-the fruit of a tree, (Gen. iii. 6,) thereby intimating the great
-influence external objects, as they exceed in beauty, carry with
-them upon our senses: so that unless the mind keep upon its constant
-watch, so prevalent are visible things, that hard it is for one
-to escape being insnared in them; (Mark, xiii. 33-37;) and he
-shall need to be only sometimes entrapped, to cast so thick a veil
-of darkness over the mind, that not only it shall with pleasure
-continue in its fetters to lust and vanity, but proudly censure such
-as refuse to wear them, strongly pleading for them, as serviceable
-and convenient: that strange passion do perishing objects raise in
-those minds where way is made, and entertainment given to them. But
-Christ Jesus is manifested in us, and hath given unto us a taste
-and understanding of Him that is true; and to all such a proportion
-of his good spirit, as is sufficient, would they obey it, to redeem
-their minds from that captivity they have been in to lust and
-vanity, and entirely ransom them from the dominion of all visible
-objects, and whatsoever may gratify the desires of the eye, the lust
-of the flesh, and the pride of life; (1 John, ii. 15, 16;) that they
-might be regenerated in their minds, changed in their affections,
-and have their whole hearts set on things that are above, where moth
-nor rust can ever pass, or enter to harm or destroy.
-
-XII. But it is a manifest sign of what mould and make the persons
-are who practise and plead for such shameful Egyptian rags, as
-pleasures. It is to be hoped that they never knew, or to be feared
-they have forgotten, the humble, plain, meek, holy, self-denying,
-and exemplary life, which the eternal Spirit sanctifies all obedient
-hearts into; yea, it is indubitable that either such always have
-been ignorant, or else they have lost sight of that good land,
-that heavenly country, and blessed inheritance they once had some
-glimmering prospect of. (Gal. v. 22-25; Eph. v. 8-11, 15, 16.) O
-that they would but withdraw a while, sit down, weigh and consider
-with themselves where they are, and whose work and will they are
-doing! that they would once believe the devil hath not a stratagem
-more pernicious to their immortal souls, than this of exercising
-their minds in the foolish fashions and wanton recreations of the
-times! Great and gross impieties beget a detestation in the opinion
-of sober education and reputation; and therefore since the devil
-rightly sees such things have no success with many; it is his next,
-and most fatal design, to find some other entertainments, that
-carry less of infection in their looks, (though more of security,
-because less of scandal,) and more of pleasure in their enjoyment,
-on purpose to busy and arrest people from a diligent search and
-inquiry after those matters which necessarily concern their eternal
-peace: (Eph. vi. 12-19:) that being ignorant of the heavenly life,
-they may not be induced to press after it; but being only formally
-religious, according to the traditions and precepts of others,
-proceed to their common pleasures, and find no check therefrom,
-their religion and conversation for the most part agreeing well
-together, whereby an improvement in the knowledge of God, going on
-from grace to grace, growing to the measure of the stature of Jesus
-Christ himself, is not known; but as it was in the beginning at
-seven, so it is at seventy; nay, not so innocent, unless by reason
-of the old saying, "Old men are twice children." (Eph. i. 16-23; iv.
-12, 13.)
-
-O! the mystery of godliness, the heavenly life, the true Christian,
-are another thing. Wherefore we conclude that as the design of the
-devil, where he cannot involve and draw into gross sin, is to busy,
-delight, and allure the minds of men and women by more seeming
-innocent entertainments, on purpose that he may more easily secure
-them from minding their duty and progress, and obedience to the
-only true God, which is eternal life; (John. xvii. 3;) and thereby
-take up their minds from heavenly and eternal things; so those who
-would be delivered from these snares should mind the holy, just,
-grave, and self-denying teachings of God's grace and Spirit in
-themselves, that they may reject, and for ever abandon the like
-vanity and evil; (Tit. ii. 11-15;) and by a reformed conversation
-condemn the world of its intemperance: so will the true discipleship
-be obtained: for otherwise many enormous consequences and pernicious
-effects will follow. It is to encourage such impious persons, to
-continue and proceed in the like trades of feeding the people's
-lusts; and thereby such make themselves partakers of their plagues,
-who by continual fresh desire to the like curiosities, and that
-way of spending time and estate, induce them to spend more time in
-studying how to abuse time; lest, through their pinching and small
-allowance, those prodigals should call their father's house to mind:
-for whatsoever any think, more pleasant baits, alluring objects,
-grateful entertainments, cunning emissaries, acceptable sermons,
-insinuating lectures, taking orators, the crafty devil has not ever
-had, by which to entice and insnare the minds of people, and totally
-to divert them from heavenly reflections and divine meditations,
-than the attire, sports, plays, and pastimes of this godless age,
-the school and shop of Satan, hitherto so reasonably condemned.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-     1. But if these customs, &c. were but indifferent, yet
-     being abused they deserve to be rejected.--2. The abuse is
-     acknowledged by those that use them, therefore should leave
-     them.--3. Such as pretend to seriousness should exemplarily
-     withdraw from such latitudes: a wise parent weans his child of
-     what it dotes too much upon; and we should watch over ourselves
-     and neighbours.--4. God, in the case of the brazen serpent, &c.
-     gives us an example to put away the use of abused things.--5.
-     If these things were sometimes convenient, yet when their use
-     is prejudicial in example, they should be disused.--6. Such as
-     yet proceed to love their unlawful pleasures more than Christ
-     and his cross; the mischief they have brought to persons and
-     estates, bodies and souls.--7. Ingenuous people know this to be
-     true: an appeal to God's witness in the guilty: their state,
-     that of Babylon.--8. But temperance in food, and plainness in
-     apparel, and sober conversation conduce most to good: so the
-     apostle teaches in his epistles.--9. Temperance enriches a
-     land: it is a political good, as well as a religious one, in
-     all governments.--10. When people have done their duty to God,
-     it will be time enough to think of pleasing themselves.--11. An
-     address to the magistrates and all people, how to convert their
-     time and money to better purposes.
-
-
-I. But should these things be as indifferent, as they are proved
-perniciously unlawful; for I never heard any advance their plea
-beyond the bounds of mere indifferency; yet so great is their abuse,
-so universal the sad effects thereof, like to an infection, that
-they therefore ought to be rejected of all; especially those whose
-sobriety hath preserved theta on this side of that excess, or whose
-judgments, though themselves be guilty, suggest the folly of such
-intemperance. For what is an indifferent thing, but that which may
-be done, or left undone? Granting, I say, this were the case, yet
-do both reason and religion teach that when they are used with such
-an excess of appetite as to leave them would be a cross to their
-desires, they have exceeded the bounds of mere indifferency, and are
-thereby rendered no less than necessary. Which being a violation of
-the very nature of the things themselves, a perfect abuse enters;
-and consequently they are no longer to be considered in the rank of
-things simply indifferent, but unlawful.
-
-II. Now that the whole exchange of things, against which I have so
-earnestly contended, are generally abused by the excess of almost
-all ages, sexes, and qualities of people, will be confessed by many,
-who yet decline not to conform themselves to them; and to whom, as I
-have understood, it only seems lawful, because, say they, the abuse
-of others should be no argument why we should not use them. But to
-such I answer, That they have quite forgotten, or will not remember,
-they have acknowledged these things to be but of an indifferent
-nature; if so, and vanity never urged more, I say, there can be
-nothing more clear, than since they acknowledge their great abuse,
-that they are wholly to be forsaken: for since they may as well be
-let alone as done at any time, surely they should then of duty be
-let alone, when the use of them is an abetting the general excess,
-(Phil. iii. 17,) and a mere exciting others to continue in their
-abuse, because they find persons reputed sober to imitate them, or
-otherwise give them an example. Precepts are not half so forcible as
-examples.
-
-III. Every one that pretends to seriousness ought to inspect
-himself, as having been too forward to help on the excess, and can
-never make too much haste out of those inconveniencies that by his
-former example he encouraged any to; that by a new one he may put
-a seasonable check upon the intemperance of others. A wise parent
-ever withdraws those objects, however innocent in themselves, which
-are too prevalent upon the weak senses of his children, on purpose
-that they might be weaned: and it is as frequent with men to bend
-a crooked stick as much the contrary way, that they might make it
-straight at last. Those that have more sobriety than others should
-not forget their stewardships, but exercise that gift of God to the
-security of their neighbours. It was murdering Cain that rudely
-asked the Lord, "Was he his brother's keeper?" (Gen. iv. 9.) For
-every man is necessarily obliged thereto; and therefore should be so
-wise as to deny himself the use of such indifferent enjoyments as
-cannot be used by him without too manifest an encouragement to his
-neighbour's folly.
-
-IV. God hath sufficiently excited men to what is said; for in the
-case of the brazen serpent, (2 Kings. xviii. 3, 4,) which was a
-heavenly institution and type of Christ, he with great displeasure
-enjoined it should be broken to pieces, because they were too
-fond and doting upon it. Yes, the very groves themselves, however
-pleasant for situation, beautiful for their walks and trees,
-must be cut down: and why? Only because they had been abused to
-idolatrous uses. And what is an idol but that which the mind puts an
-over-estimate or value upon? None can benefit themselves so much by
-an indifferent thing as others by not using that abused liberty.
-
-V. If those things were convenient in themselves, which is a step
-nearer necessity than mere indifferency, yet when by circumstances
-they become prejudicial, such conveniency itself ought to be put
-off; much more what is but indifferent should be denied. People
-ought not to weigh their private satisfactions more than a public
-good; nor please themselves in too free a use of indifferent things,
-at the cost of being so really prejudicial to the public as they
-certainly are, whose use of them, if no worse, becomes exemplary
-to others, and begets an impatience in their minds to have the
-like. Wherefore it is both reasonable and incumbent on all to make
-only such things necessary as tend to life and godliness, and to
-employ their freedom with most advantage to their neighbours. (2
-Pet. i. 3.) So that here is a two-fold obligation; the one not to
-be exemplary in the use of such things, which though they may use
-them, yet not without giving too much countenance to the abuse and
-excessive vanity of their neighbours. The other obligation is, that
-they ought so far to condescend to such religious people, who are
-offended at these fashions, and that kind of conversation as to
-reject them. (Rom. xiv. 1, to the end.)
-
-VI. Now those who, notwithstanding what I have urged, will yet
-proceed; what is it but that they have so involved themselves and
-their affections in them, that it is hardly possible to reform them;
-and that for all their many protestations against their fondness
-to such fopperies, they really love them more than Christ and his
-cross. Such cannot seek the good of others, who do so little respect
-their own. For, after a serious consideration, what vanity, pride,
-idleness, expense of time and estates have been and yet are! How
-many persons debauched from their first sobriety, and women from
-their natural sweetness and innocency to loose, airy, wanton, and
-many times more enormous practices! How many plentiful estates
-have been overrun by numerous debts, chastity ensnared by accursed
-lustful intrigues; youthful health overtaken by the hasty seizure of
-unnatural distempers, and the remaining days of such spent upon a
-rack of their vice's procuring, and so made slaves to the unmerciful
-but necessary effects of their own inordinate pleasures! in which
-agony they vow the greatest temperance, but are no sooner out of it,
-than in their vice again. (Lam. iv. 5; Job, xxi. 13, 14; Psalm lv.
-23; xxxvii. 10; Eccl. viii. 12; Psalm xxxvii. 1, 2; Prov. ii. 22.)
-
-VII. That these things are the case, and almost innumerable more,
-I am persuaded no ingenuous person of any experience will deny:
-how then, upon a serious reflection, any that pretend conscience
-or the fear of God Almighty, can longer continue in the garb,
-livery, and conversation of those whose whole life tends to little
-else than what I have repeated, much less join with them in their
-abominable excess, I leave to the just principle in themselves to
-judge. (Jer. xvi. 5-9.) No, surely! this is not to obey the voice
-of God, who in all ages did loudly cry to all, Come out of--_of
-what?_--the ways, fashions, converse, and spirit of Babylon. (Isa.
-iii. 13-16; Jer. l. 8; xv. 6, 7; Amos, vi. 3-7.) What is that?
-The great city of all these vain, foolish, wanton, superfluous,
-and wicked practices, against which the Scriptures denounce most
-dreadful judgments; ascribing all the intemperance of men and women
-to the cup of wickedness she hath given them to drink; whose are the
-things indifferent, if they must be so. And for witness, John in
-his revelation says in her description: How much she hath glorified
-herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her.
-And the kings of the earth, who have lived deliciously with her,
-shall bewail her and lament her; and the merchants of the earth
-shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth her merchandise any
-more; the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and
-of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and
-thyine-wood, and all manner of vessels of ivory, and all manner of
-vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;
-and cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine,
-and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and
-horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. (Rev. xviii.
-7, 9, 11-13.) Behold the character and judgment of luxury: and
-though I know it hath a further signification than what is literal,
-yet there is enough to show the pomp, plenty, fulness, idleness,
-ease, wantonness, vanity, lust, and excess of luxury that reign
-in her. But at the terrible day, who will go to her exchange any
-more? Who to her plays? Who will follow her fashions then? And who
-shall traffic in her delicate inventions? Not one; for she shall be
-judged. No plea shall excuse or rescue her from the wrath of the
-Judge; for strong is the Lord, who will perform it. (Rev. xviii.
-8.) If these reasonable pleas will not prevail, yet however I shall
-caution such in the repetition of part of Babylon's miserable
-doom: mind, my friends, more heavenly things, hasten to obey that
-righteous principle which would exercise and delight you in that
-which is eternal; or else with Babylon, the mother of lust and
-vanity, the fruits that your souls lust after shall depart from you,
-and all things which are dainty and goodly shall depart from you and
-you shall find them NO MORE: O Dives! No more. (Rev. xviii. 14.) Lay
-your treasures, therefore, up in heaven, O ye inhabitants of the
-earth, where nothing can break through to harm them; but where time
-shall shortly be swallowed up of eternity. (Luke, xii. 33, 34.)
-
-VIII. But my arguments against these things end not here: for the
-contrary most of all conduces to good; namely, temperance in food,
-plainness in apparel, with a meek, shame-faced, and quiet spirit,
-and that conversation which doth only express the same in all godly
-honesty: as the apostle saith, "Let no corrupt communication proceed
-out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying,
-that it may minister grace to the hearers; neither filthiness, nor
-foolish talking, nor jesting, but rather giving of thanks: for let
-no man deceive you with vain words, because of these things cometh
-the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience." (Col. iv.
-5, 6; 1 Thes. iv. 11, 12; 1 Pet. iii. 1-4; Eph. iv. 2; v. 3-6; 1
-Tim. iv. 12; Phil. iii. 16-20.) And if men and women were but thus
-adorned after this truly Christian manner, impudence would soon
-receive a check, and lust, pride, vanity, and wantonness find a
-rebuke. (1 Pet. ii. 12; Prov. xxxi. 23-31; James, ii. 2-9.) They
-would not be able to attack such universal chastity or encounter
-such godly austerity: virtue would be in credit, and vice afraid
-and ashamed, and excess not dare to show its face. There would be
-an end of gluttony and gaudiness of apparel, flattering titles,
-and a luxurious life; (2 Pet. iii. 11; Psal. xxvi. 6;) and then
-primitive innocency and plainness would come back again, and that
-plain-hearted, downright, harmless life would be restored, of not
-much caring what we should eat, drink, or put on, (Luke, xii.
-22-30,) as Christ tells us the Gentiles did, and as we know this age
-daily does, under all its talk of religion; but as the ancients,
-who with moderate care for necessaries and conveniencies of life,
-devoted themselves to the concernments of a celestial kingdom, and
-more minded their improvement in righteousness than their increase
-in riches; for they laid their treasure up in heaven, (Matt. xxv.
-21,) and endured tribulation for an inheritance that cannot be taken
-away.
-
-IX. But the temperance I plead for is not only religiously but
-politically good: it is the interest of good government to curb
-and rebuke excesses: it prevents many mischiefs. Luxury brings
-effeminacy, laziness, poverty, and misery; (Prov. x. 4; Eccl.
-x. 16-18;) but temperance preserves the land. It keeps out
-foreign vanities, and improves our own commodities: now we are
-their debtors; then they would be debtors to us for our native
-manufactures. By this means, such persons who by their excess, not
-charity, have deeply engaged their estates, may in a short space
-be enabled to clear them from those incumbrances which otherwise,
-like moths, soon eat out plentiful revenues. It helps persons of
-mean substance to improve their small stocks, that they may not
-expend their dear earnings, and hard-got wages upon superfluous
-apparel, foolish May-games, plays, dancings, shows, taverns,
-ale-houses, and the like folly and intemperance, of which this land
-is more infested, and by which it is rendered more ridiculous than
-any kingdom in the world: for none I know of is so infested with
-cheating mountebanks, savage morrice-dancers, pick-pockets, and
-profane players, and stagers, to the slight of religion, the shame
-of government, and the great idleness, expense, and debauchery of
-the people: for which the Spirit of the Lord is grieved, and the
-judgments of the Almighty are at the door, and the sentence ready
-to be pronounced, "Let him that is unjust be unjust still." (Rev.
-xxii. 11; Eccl. xii. 1.) Wherefore it is that we cannot but loudly
-call upon the generality of the times, and testify both by our life
-and doctrine against the like vanities and abuses, if possibly any
-may be weaned from their folly, and choose the good old path of
-temperance, wisdom, gravity, and holiness, the only way to inherit
-the blessings of peace and plenty here, and eternal happiness
-hereafter.
-
-X. Lastly, supposing we had none of these foregoing reasons justly
-to reprove the practice of the land in these particulars; however,
-let it be sufficient for us to say, that when people have first
-learned to fear, worship, and obey their Creator, to pay their
-numerous vicious debts, to alleviate and abate their oppressed
-tenants; but above all outward regards, when the pale faces are
-more commiserated, when the famished poor, the distressed widow,
-and helpless orphan, God's works, and your fellow-creatures, are
-provided for; then, I say, if then, it will be time enough for you
-to plead the indifferency of your pleasures. But that the sweet and
-tedious labour of the husbandman, early and late, cold and hot, wet
-and dry, should be converted into the pleasure, ease, and pastime
-of a small number of men; that the cart, the plough, the flail,
-should be in that continual severity laid upon nineteen parts of
-the land, to feed the inordinate lusts and delicious appetites of
-the twentieth, is so far from the appointment of the great Governor
-of the world, and God of the spirits of all flesh, that, to imagine
-such horrible injustice as the effects of his determinations, and
-not the intemperance of men, were wretched and blasphemous. As
-on the other side, it would be to deserve no pity, no help, no
-relief from God Almighty, for people to continue that expense in
-vanity and pleasure, whilst the great necessities of such objects
-go unanswered; especially since God hath made the sons of men but
-stewards to each other's exigencies and relief. Yea, so strict is
-it enjoined, that on the omission of these things, we find this
-dreadful sentence partly to be grounded, "Depart from me, ye cursed,
-into everlasting fire," &c. (Matt. xxv. 34-41.) As on the contrary,
-to visit the sick, see the imprisoned, relieve the needy, &c. are
-such excellent properties in Christ's account, that thereupon He
-will pronounce such blessed, saying, "Come, ye blessed of my Father,
-inherit the kingdom prepared for you," &c. (Matt. xxv. 34-41.) So
-that the great are not, with the leviathan in the deep, to prey upon
-the small, much less to make a sport of the lives and labours of the
-lesser ones, to gratify their inordinate senses.
-
-XI. I therefore humbly offer an address to the serious consideration
-of the civil magistrate, that, if the money which is expended in
-every parish in such vain fashions as wearing of laces, jewels,
-embroideries, unnecessary ribbons, trimmings, costly furniture, and
-attendance, together with what is commonly consumed in taverns,
-feasts, gaming, &c. could be collected into a public stock, or
-something in lieu of this extravagant and fruitless expense, there
-might be reparation to the broken tenants, workhouses for the able,
-and alms-houses for the aged and impotent. Then should we have no
-beggars in the land, the cry of the widow and the orphan would
-cease, and charitable relief might easily be afforded towards the
-redemption of poor captives, and the refreshment of such distressed
-Protestants as labour under the miseries of persecution in other
-countries: nay, the Exchequer's needs, on just emergencies, might
-be supplied by such a bank: this sacrifice and service would please
-the just and merciful God: it would be a noble example of gravity
-and temperance to foreign states, and an unspeakable benefit to
-ourselves at home.
-
-Alas! why should men need persuasions to what their own felicity
-so necessarily leads them? Had these _vitiosos_ of the times but a
-sense of heathen Cato's generosity, they would rather deny their
-carnal appetites than leave such noble enterprises unattempted.
-But that they should eat, drink, play, game, and sport away their
-health, estates, and, above all, their irrevocable precious time,
-which should be dedicated to the Lord, as a necessary introduction
-to a blessed eternity, and than which, did they but know it, no
-worldly solace would come in competition: I say, that they should
-be continually employed about these poor, low things is to have the
-heathens judge them in God's days, as well as Christian precepts
-and examples condemn them. And their final doom will prove the
-more astonishing, in that this vanity and excess are acted under a
-profession of the self-denying religion of Jesus, whose life and
-doctrine are a perpetual reproach to the most of Christians. For
-He was humble, but they are proud; He forgiving, they revengeful;
-He meek, they fierce; He plain, they gaudy; He abstemious, they
-luxurious; He chaste, they lascivious: He a pilgrim on earth,
-they citizens of the world: in fine, He was meanly born, poorly
-attended, and obscurely brought up; He lived despised, and died
-hated of the men of his own nation. O you pretended followers of
-this crucified Jesus! examine yourselves, try yourselves, know
-you not your own selves; if He dwell not, if He rule not in you,
-that you are reprobates? Be ye not deceived, for God will not be
-mocked, (at last with forced repentances,) such as you sow, such
-you must reap. (1 Cor. xiii. 5; Gal. vi. 8.) I beseech you to hear
-me, and remember you were invited and entreated to the salvation of
-God. I say; as you sow, you reap: if you are enemies to the cross
-of Christ,--and you are so if you will not bear it, but do as you
-list, and not as you ought;--if you are uncircumcised in heart and
-ear, and you are so, if you will not hear, and open to Him that
-knocks at the door within, and if you resist and quench the Spirit
-in yourselves, that strives with you, to bring you to God, (and
-that you certainly do who rebel against its motions, reproofs,
-and instructions,) then you sow to the flesh, to fulfil the lusts
-thereof, and of the flesh will you reap the fruits of corruption,
-(Rom. ii. 8,) woe, anguish, and tribulation, from God, the Judge
-of quick and dead, by Jesus Christ. But if you will daily bear the
-holy cross of Christ, and sow to the Spirit; if you will listen to
-the light and grace that comes by Jesus, and which He has given
-to all people for salvation, and square your thoughts, words, and
-deeds thereby, which leads and teaches the lovers of it to deny all
-ungodliness and the world's lusts, and to live soberly, righteously,
-and godly in this present evil world, then may you with confidence
-look for the blessed hope and joyful coming, and glorious appearance
-of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. (Tit. ii. 11-13.)
-Let it be so, O you Christians, and escape the wrath to come! Why
-will you die? Let the time past suffice: remember, that No Cross,
-no Crown. Redeem then the time, for the days are evil, (Eph. v.
-16,) and yours are but very few. Therefore gird up the loins of your
-minds, be sober, fear, watch, pray, and endure to the end; calling
-to mind for your encouragement and consolation, that all such as
-through patience and well-doing wait for immortality, (Rom. ii. 7,)
-shall reap glory, honour, and eternal life in the kingdom of the
-Father: whose is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever.
-Amen.
-
-
-
-
-END OF PART I.
-
-
-
-
-  NO CROSS, NO CROWN.
-
-  THE
-
-  SECOND PART:
-
-  CONTAINING
-
-  AN ACCOUNT OF THE REMARKABLE SAYINGS
-
-  OF
-
-  MEN EMINENT FOR THEIR GREATNESS,
-  LEARNING, OR VIRTUE;
-
-  COLLECTED IN FAVOUR OF THE TRUTH DELIVERED IN THE
-
-  FIRST PART;
-
-  BY WILLIAM PENN.
-
-
-
-
-PREFACE.
-
-
-No Cross, No Crown, should have ended here; but that the power which
-examples and authorities have put upon the minds of the people,
-above the most reasonable and pressing arguments, inclined me to
-present my readers with some of those many instances that might be
-given, in favour of the virtuous life recommended in our discourse.
-I chose to cast them into three sorts of testimonies, not after
-the threefold subject of the book; but suitable to the times,
-qualities, and circumstances of the persons that gave them forth;
-whose divers excellencies and stations have transmitted their names
-with reputation to our own times. The first testimony comes from
-those called Heathens; the second from professed Christians; and
-the last, from retired, aged, and dying men; being their last and
-serious reflections, to which no ostentation or worldly interests
-could induce them. Where it will be easy for the considerate reader
-to observe, how much the pride, avarice, and luxury of the world
-stood reprehended in the judgments of persons of great credit
-amongst men; and what was that life and conduct, that in their most
-retired meditations, when their sight was clearest, and judgment
-most free and disabused, they thought would give peace here, and lay
-foundations of eternal blessedness.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX.
-
-     _The Testimonies of several great, learned, and virtuous
-     personages among the_ Gentiles, _urged against the excesses of
-     the age, in favour of the self-denial, temperance, and piety,
-     recommended in the first part of this discourse._
-
-
-I. AMONG THE GREEKS, &c. viz.
-
-     1. Cyrus.--2. Artaxerxes.--3. Agathocles.--4. Philip.--5.
-     Ptolemy.--6. Xenophanes.--7. Antigonus.--8. Themistocles.--9.
-     Aristides.--10. Pericles.--11. Phocion.--12. Clitomachus.--13.
-     Epaminondas.--14. Demosthenes.--15. Agasicles.--16.
-     Agesilaus.--17. Agis.--18. Alcamenes.--19. Alexandrides.--20.
-     Anaxilas.--21. Ariston.--22. Archidamus.--23. Cleomenes.--24.
-     Dersyllidas.--25. Hippodamus.--26. Leonidas.--27. Lysander.--28.
-     Pausanias.--29. Theopompus, &c.--30. The manner of life and
-     government of the Lacedæmonians in general.--31. Lycurgus their
-     lawgiver.
-
-I. Cyrus, than whom a greater monarch we hardly find in story,
-is more famous for his virtue than his power; God calls him his
-shepherd. Now let us see the principles of his conduct and life.
-So temperate was he in his youth, that when Astyages, urged him
-to drink wine, he answered, "I am afraid lest there should be
-poison in it, having seen thee reel and sottish after having drunk
-thereof." And so careful was he to keep the Persians from corruption
-of manners, that he would not suffer them to leave their rude and
-mountainous country, for one more pleasant and fruitful, lest
-through plenty and ease, luxury at last might debase their spirits.
-And so very chaste was he, that having taken a lady of quality, a
-most beautiful woman, his prisoner, he refused to see her, saying,
-"I have no mind to be a captive to my captive." It seems, he claimed
-no such propriety; but shunned the occasion of evil. The comptroller
-of his household asking him one day what he would please to have
-for his dinner; "Bread," said he; "for I intend to encamp nigh the
-water:" a short and easy bill of fare: but this shows the power he
-had over his appetite as well as his soldiers; and that he was fit
-to command others, that could command himself: according to another
-saying of his, "No man," saith he, "is worthy to command, who is
-not better than those who are to obey." And when he came to die,
-he gave this reason of his belief of immortality; "I cannot," said
-he, "persuade myself to think that the soul of man, after having
-sustained itself in a mortal body, should perish when delivered out
-of it, for want of it;" a saying of perhaps as great weight, as may
-be advanced against Atheism, from more enlightened times.
-
-II. Artaxerxes Mnemon, being upon an extraordinary occasion reduced
-to eat barley bread, and dried figs, and drink water, "What
-pleasure," saith he, "have I lost till now, through my delicacies
-and excess!"
-
-III. Agathocles becoming king of Sicily, from being the son of a
-potter, always to humble his mind to his original, would be daily
-served in earthen vessels upon his table: an example of humility and
-plainness.
-
-IV. Philip, king of Macedon, upon three sorts of good news,
-arrived in one day, feared too much success might transport him
-immoderately; and therefore prayed for some disappointments to
-season his prosperity, and caution his mind under the enjoyment of
-it. He refused to oppress the Greeks with his garrisons, saying,
-"I had rather retain them by kindness than fear, and to be always
-beloved, than for a while terrible." One of his minions persuading
-him to decline hearing a cause, wherein a particular friend was
-interested, "I had much rather," says he, "thy friend shall lose
-his cause, than I my reputation." Seeing his son, Alexander,
-endeavouring to gain the hearts of the Macedonians, by gifts and
-rewards, "Canst thou believe," says he, "that a man that thou hast
-corrupted to thy interests, will ever be true to them?" When his
-court would have had him quarrel with and correct the Peloponnenses
-for their ingratitude to him, he said, "By no means; for if they
-despise and abuse me after being kind to them, what will they do if
-I do them harm?"--a great example of patience in a king, and wittily
-said. Like to this was his reply to the ambassadors of Athens, whom
-asking after audience, if he could do them any service, and one
-of them surlily answering, The best thou canst do us is to hang
-thyself, he was nothing disturbed, though his court murmured; but
-calmly said to the ambassador, "Those who suffer injuries are better
-people than those that do them." To conclude with him: being one day
-fallen along the ground, and seeing himself in that posture he cried
-out, "What a small spot of earth do we take up, and yet the whole
-world cannot content us!"
-
-V. Ptolemy, son of Lagus, being reproached for his mean original,
-and his friends angry that he did not resent it; "We ought," says
-he, "to bear reproaches patiently."
-
-VI. Xenophanes being jeered for refusing to play at a forbidden
-game, answered: "I do not fear my money, but my reputation: they
-that make laws, must keep them." A commendable saying.
-
-VII. Antigonus being taken sick, he said, it was a warning from
-God to instruct him of his mortality. A poet flattered him with
-the title of the Son of God, he answered, "My servant knows the
-contrary." Another sycophant telling him, that the will of kings
-is the rule of justice: "No," saith he, "rather justice is the rule
-of the will of kings;" and being pressed by his minions to put a
-garrison into Athens, to hold the Greeks in subjection, he answered,
-"he had not a stronger garrison than the affections of his people."
-
-VIII. Themistocles, after all the honour of his life, sits down with
-this conclusion, "That the way to the grave is more desirable than
-the way to worldly honours." His daughter being courted by one of
-little wit and great wealth, and another of little wealth and great
-goodness; he chose the poor man for his son-in-law: "For," saith he,
-"I will rather have a man without money, than money without a man;"
-reckoning, that not money, but worth, makes the man. Being told by
-Symmachus, that he would teach him the art of memory; he gravely
-answered, he had rather learn the art of forgetfulness: adding, he
-could remember enough, but many things he could not forget, which
-were necessary to be forgotten: as the honours, glories, pleasures,
-and conquests he had spent his days in: too apt to transport to vain
-glory.
-
-IX. Aristides, a wise and just Greek, of greatest honour and trust
-with the Athenians;--he was a great enemy to cabals in government:
-the reason he renders is, "Because," saith he, "I would not be
-obliged to authorize injustice." He so much hated covetousness,
-though he was thrice chosen treasurer of Athens, that he lived
-and died poor, and that of choice: for being therefore reproached
-by a rich usurer, he answered, "Thy riches hurt thee more than my
-poverty hurts me." Being once banished by a contrary faction in
-the state, he prayed to God, that the affairs of his country might
-go so well, as never to need his return: which however caused him
-presently to be recalled: whereupon he told them, that he was not
-troubled for his exile with respect to himself, but the honour of
-his country. Themistocles, their general, had a project to propose,
-to render Athens mistress of Greece, but it required secrecy: the
-people obliged him to communicate it to Aristides, whose judgment
-they would follow. Aristides having privately heard it from
-Themistocles, publicly answered the people, "True there was nothing
-more advantageous, nothing more unjust:" which quashed the project.
-
-X. Pericles, as he mounted the tribunal, prayed to God that not a
-word might fall from him, that might scandalize the people, wrong
-the public affairs, or hurt his own. One of his friends praying
-him to speak falsely in his favour; "We are friends," saith he,
-"but not beyond the altar;" meaning not against religion and truth.
-Sophocles being his companion, upon sight of a beautiful woman, said
-to Pericles, "Ah, what a lovely creature is that!" To whom Pericles
-replied, "It becometh a magistrate not only to have his hands clean,
-but his tongue and eyes also."
-
-XI. Phocion, a famous Athenian, was honest and poor, yea, he
-contemned riches: for a certain governor making rich presents, he
-returned them; saying, "I refused Alexander's." And when several
-persuaded him to accept of such bounty, or else his children would
-want, he answered, "If my son be virtuous, I shall leave him enough;
-and if he be vicious, more would be too little." He rebuked the
-excess of the Athenians, and that openly; saying, "He that eateth
-more than he ought, maketh more diseases than he can cure." To
-condemn or flatter him, was to him alike. Antipater pressing him to
-submit to his sense, he answered, "Thou canst not have me for thy
-friend and flatterer too." Seeing a man in office to speak much, and
-do little, he asked, "How can that man do business, that is always
-drunk with talking?" After all the great services of his life, he
-was unjustly condemned to die; and going to the place of execution,
-lamented by the people, one of his enemies spit in his face; he
-took it without any disorder of mind, only saying, "Take him away."
-Before execution, his friends asked him, whether he had nothing to
-say to his son? "Yes," said he, "let him not hate my enemies, nor
-revenge my death: I see it is better to sleep on the earth with
-peace, than with trouble upon the softest bed: that he ought to do
-that which is his duty; and what is more is vanity: that he must not
-carry two faces: that he promise little, but keep his promises: the
-world does the contrary."
-
-XII. Clitomachus had so great a love to virtue, and practised it
-with such exactness, that if at any time in company he heard wanton
-or obscene discourse, he was wont to quit the place.
-
-XIII. Epaminondas being invited to a sacrificial feast, so soon
-as he entered he withdrew, because of the sumptuous furniture and
-attire of the place and people; saying, "I was called at Leurtra to
-a sacrifice, but I find it is a debauch." The day after the great
-battle he obtained upon his enemies, he seemed sad and solitary,
-which was not his ordinary temper; and being asked why, answered,
-"I would moderate the joy of yesterday's triumphs." A Thessalian
-general, and his colleague in a certain enterprise, knowing his
-poverty, sent him two thousand crowns to defray his part of the
-charges; but he seemed angry, and answered, "This looks like
-corrupting me;" contenting himself with less than five pounds,
-which he borrowed of one of his friends for that service. The same
-moderation made him refuse the presents of the Persian emperor,
-saying, "They were needless if he only desired of him what was just;
-if more, he was not rich enough to corrupt him." Seeing a rich man
-refuse to lend one of his friends money that was in affliction,
-he said, "Art not thou ashamed to refuse to help a good man in
-necessity?" After he had freed Greece from trouble, and made the
-Thebans, his countrymen, triumph over the Lacedæmonians, till then
-invincible, that ungrateful people arraigned him and his friends,
-under pretence of acting something without authority: he, as
-general, took the blame upon himself, justified the action both from
-necessity and success, arraigning his judges for ingratitude whilst
-himself was at the bar, which caused them to withdraw with fallen
-countenances, and hearts smitten with guilt and fear. To conclude,
-he was a man of great truth and patience, as well as wisdom and
-courage; for he was never observed to lie in earnest or in jest. And
-notwithstanding the ill and cross humours of the Thebans, aggravated
-by his incomparable hazards and services for their freedom and
-renown, it is reported of him that he ever bore them patiently,
-often saying that he ought no more to be revenged of his country
-than of his father.
-
-XIV. Demosthenes, the great orator of Athens, had these sentences:
-"That wise men speak little, and that therefore nature hath given
-men two ears and one tongue, to hear more than they speak." To one
-that spoke much he said, "How cometh it that he who taught thee
-to speak, did not teach thee to hold thy tongue?" He said of a
-covetous man, "That he knew not how to live all his lifetime, and
-that he left it for another to live after he was dead. That it was
-an easy thing to deceive one's self, because it was easy to persuade
-one's self to what one desired." He said, "That calumnies were
-easily received, but time would always discover them. That there
-was nothing more uneasy to good men than not to have the liberty
-of speaking freely; and that if any one knew what he had to suffer
-from the people, he would never meddle to govern them. In fine, that
-man's happiness was to be like God; and to resemble Him, we must
-love truth and justice."
-
-XV. Agasicles, king of the Lacedæmonians, or Spartans, which are
-one, was of the opinion that it was better to govern without force:
-and, says he, the means to do it is to govern the people as a father
-governs his children.
-
-XVI. Agesilaus, king of the same people, would say, that he had
-rather be master of himself than of the greatest city of his
-enemies: and to preserve his own liberty than to usurp the liberty
-of another man. "A prince," says he, "ought to distinguish himself
-from his subjects by his virtue, and not by his state or delicacy
-of life." Wherefore he wore plain, simple clothing; his table was
-as moderate and his bed as hard as that of any ordinary subject.
-And when he was told that one time or other he would be obliged to
-change his fashion: "No," saith he, "I am not given to change even
-in a change: and this I do," saith he, "to remove from young men
-any pretence of luxury, that they may see their prince practise
-what he counsels them to do." He added, "That the foundation of
-the Lacedæmonian laws was to despise luxury, and to reward with
-liberty; nor," saith he, "should good men put a value upon that
-which mean and base souls make their delight." Being flattered by
-some with divine honour, he asked them if they could not make gods
-too? If they could why did they not begin with themselves?--The same
-austere conduct of life made him refuse to have his statue erected
-in the cities of Asia: nor would he suffer his picture to be taken;
-and his reason is good: "for," saith he, "the fairest portraiture
-of men is their own actions."--Whatsoever was to be suddenly done
-in the government, he was sure to set his hand first to the work,
-like a common person. He would say, it did not become men to make
-provision to be rich but to be good. Being asked the means to true
-happiness; he answered, "To do nothing that should make a man fear
-to die:" another time, "To speak well, and do well." Being called
-home by the ephori, or supreme magistrates, the way of the Spartan
-constitution, he returned, saying, "It is not less the duty of a
-prince to obey laws than to command men." He conferred places of
-trust and honour upon his enemies, that he might constrain their
-hatred into love. A lawyer asking him for a letter to make a person
-judge that was of his own friends; "My friends," says he, "have
-no need of recommendation to do justice."--A comedian of note,
-wondering that Agesilaus said nothing to him, asked if he knew him;
-"Yes," said he, "art not thou the buffoon Callipedes?" One calling
-the king of Persia the Great king, he answered, "He is not greater
-than I unless he hath more virtue than I."--One of his friends
-catching him playing with his children, he prevented him thus: "Say
-nothing till thou art a father too."--He had great care of the
-education of youth, often saying, "We must teach children what they
-should do when they are men." The Egyptians despising him because he
-had but a small train and a mean equipage; "Oh," said he, "I will
-have them to know royalty consists not in vain pomp but in virtue."
-
-XVII. Agis, another king of Lacedæmon, imprisoned for endeavouring
-to restore their declining discipline, being asked whether he
-repented not of his design; answered, "No; for," saith he, "good
-actions never need repentance." His father and mother desiring of
-him to grant something he thought unjust, he answered, "I obeyed you
-when I was young; I must now obey the laws, and do that which is
-reasonable."--As he was leading to the place of execution one of his
-people wept, to whom he said, "Weep not for me; for the authors of
-this unjust death are more in fault than I."
-
-XVIII. Alcamenes, king of the same people, being asked which was
-the way to get and preserve honour; answered, "To despise wealth."
-Another wondering why he refused the presents of the Messenians, he
-answered, "I make conscience to keep the laws that forbid it." To a
-miser, accusing him of being so reserved in his discourse, he said,
-"I had rather conform to reason than thy covetousness; or, I had
-rather be covetous of my words than money."
-
-XIX. Alexandrides hearing an exile complain of his banishment, saith
-he, "Complain of the cause of it, to wit, his deserts, for there
-is nothing hurtful but vice." Being asked why they were so long in
-making the process of criminals in Lacedæmon, "Because," saith he,
-"when they are once dead they are past repentance." This shows their
-belief of immortality and eternal blessedness; and that even poor
-criminals, through repentance, may obtain it.
-
-XX. Anaxilas would say that the greatest advantage kings had upon
-other men was their power of excelling them in good deeds.
-
-XXI. Ariston hearing one admire this expression, "We ought to do
-good to our friends and evil to our enemies;" answered, "By no
-means; we ought to do good to all; to keep our friends and to gain
-our enemies." A doctrine the most difficult to flesh and blood in
-all the precepts of Christ's sermon upon the mount: nay, not allowed
-to be his doctrine, but both an eye for an eye, defended against
-his express command, and oftentimes an eye put out, an estate
-sequestered, and life taken away under a specious zeal for religion
-too; as if sin could be christened, and impiety entitled to the
-doctrine of Christ: O, will not such heathens rise up in judgment
-against our worldly Christians in the great day of God!
-
-XXII. Archidamus also, king of Sparta, being asked who was
-master of Lacedæmonia; "The laws," saith he, "and after them the
-magistrates." One praising a musician in his presence, "Ah!" saith
-he, "but when wilt thou praise a good man?"--Another saying, that
-man is an excellent musician: "That is all one," saith he, "as if
-thou wouldst say, there is a good cook:" counting both trades of
-voluptuousness.--Another promising him some excellent wine; "I care
-not," saith he, "for it will only put my mouth out of taste to my
-ordinary liquor;" which it seems was water.--Two men chose him an
-arbitrator; to accept it, he made them promise to do what he would
-have them: "Then," said he, "stir not from this place till you have
-agreed the matter between yourselves," which was done.--Dionysius,
-king of Sicily, sending his daughters rich apparel, he forbad them
-to wear it, saying, "You will seem to me but the more homely." This
-great man certainly was not of the mind to breed up his children at
-the exchanges, dancing-schools, and play-houses.
-
-XXIII. Cleomenes, king of the same people, would say, "That kings
-ought to be pleasant; but not to cheapness and contempt." He was so
-just a man in power, that he drove away Demaratus his fellow-king,
-(for they always had two,) for offering to corrupt him in a cause
-before them, "Lest," saith he, "he should attempt others less able
-to resist him, and so ruin the state."
-
-XXIV. Dersyllidas perceiving that Pyrrhus would force a prince
-upon his countrymen, the Lacedæmonians, whom they lately rejected,
-stoutly opposed him, saying, "If thou art God, we fear thee not,
-because we have done no evil; and if thou art but a man we are men
-too."
-
-XXV. Hippodamus seeing a young man ashamed, that was caught in bad
-company, he reproved him sharply, saying, "For time to come, keep
-such company as thou needest not blush at."
-
-XXVI. Leonidas, brother to Cleomenes, being offered by Xerxes to
-be made an emperor of Greece, answered, "I had rather die for my
-own country, than have an unjust command over other men's;" adding,
-"Xerxes deceived himself, to think it a virtue to invade the right
-of other men."
-
-XXVII. Lysander being asked by a person, what was the best frame of
-government; "That," says he, "where every man hath according to his
-deserts." Though one of the greatest captains that Sparta bred, he
-had learned by his wisdom to bear personal affronts: "Say what thou
-wilt," says he to one that spoke abusively to him, "empty thyself,
-I shall bear it." His daughters were contracted in marriage to some
-persons of quality, but he dying poor, they refused to marry them;
-upon which the ephori condemned each of them in a great sum of
-money, because they preferred money before faith and engagement.
-
-XXVIII. Pausanias, son of Cleombrotus, and colleague of Lysander,
-beholding, among the Persian spoils they took, the costliness of
-their furniture, said, "It had been much better if they had been
-worth less, and their masters more." And after the victory of
-Platæa, having a dinner dressed according to the Persian manner, and
-beholding the magnificence and furniture of the treat; "What," saith
-he, "do these people mean, that live in such wealth and luxury, to
-attack our meanness and poverty?"
-
-XXIX. Theopompus saith, "The way to preserve a kingdom, is to
-embrace the counsel of one's friends, and not to suffer the meaner
-sort to be oppressed." One making the glory of Sparta to consist
-in commanding well, he answered, "No, it is in knowing how to obey
-well." He was of opinion, that great honours hurt a state; adding,
-that time would abolish great, and augment moderate honours among
-men; meaning, that men should have the reputation they deserve,
-without flattery and excess.
-
-A rhetorician, bragging himself of his art, was reproved by a
-Lacedæmonian; "Dost thou call that an art," saith he, "which hath
-not truth for its object?" Also a Lacedæmonian being presented with
-a harp after dinner, by a musical person, "I do not," saith he,
-"know how to play the fool." Another being asked, what he thought
-of a poet of the times, answered, "Good for nothing but to corrupt
-youth." Nor was this only the wisdom and virtue of some particular
-persons, which may be thought to have given light to the dark body
-of their courts; but their government was wise and just, and the
-people generally obeyed it; making virtue to be true honour, and
-that honour dearer to them than life.
-
-XXX. Lacedæmonian customs, according to Plutarch, were these:
-they were very temperate in their eating and drinking, their
-most delicate dish being a pottage made for the nourishment of
-ancient people. They taught their children to write and read, to
-obey the magistrates, to endure labour, and to be bold in danger:
-the teachers of other sciences were not so much as admitted in
-Lacedæmonia.--They had but one garment, and that new once a year.
-They rarely used baths or oil, the custom of those parts of the
-world.--They accustomed their youth to travel by night without
-light, to use them not to be afraid.--The old governed the young;
-and those of them who obeyed not the aged, were punished.--It was
-a shame not to bear reproof among the youth; and among the aged,
-matter of punishment not to give it. They made ordinary cheer, on
-purpose to keep out luxury; holding, that mean fare kept the spirit
-free, and the body fit for action. They permitted not their youth
-to travel, lest they should corrupt their manners; and for the same
-reason they permitted not strangers to dwell amongst them, that
-conformed not to their way of living. In this they were so strict,
-that such of their youth that were not educated in their customs,
-enjoyed not the privileges of natives. They would suffer neither
-comedies nor tragedies to be acted in their country. They condemned
-a soldier but for painting his buckler of several colours: and
-publicly punished a young man for having learned but the way to a
-town given to luxury. They also banished an orator for bragging,
-that he could speak a whole day upon any subject: for they did not
-like much speaking, much less for a bad cause.--They buried their
-dead without any ceremony or superstition; for they only used a red
-cloth upon the body, broidered with olive leaves; this burial had
-all degrees. Mourning they forbad, and epitaphs too.--When they
-prayed to God, they stretched forth their arms, which with them was
-a sign that they must do good works, as well as make good prayers.
-They asked of God but two things, patience in labour, and happiness
-in well-doing.
-
-This account is mostly the same with Xenophon's: adding, that they
-ate moderately, and in common: the aged mixed with the youth, to
-awe them, and give them good example.--When they were fifteen
-years of age, instead of leaving them to their own conduct, as
-in other places, they had most care of their conversation, that
-they might preserve them from the mischiefs _that_ age is incident
-to. And those that would not comply with these rules, were not
-counted always honest people.--And in this, their government was
-excellent; that they thought there was no greater punishment for a
-bad man, than to be known and used as such, at all times, and in all
-places; for they were not to come into the company of persons of
-reputation.--They were to give place to all others; to stand when
-they sat; to be accountable to every honest man that met them of
-their conversation.--That they must keep their poor kindred.--That
-they used not the same freedoms that honest people might use: by
-which means they kept virtue in credit, and vice in contempt.--They
-used all things necessary for life, without superfluity or want;
-despising riches, and sumptuous apparel, and living: judging, that
-the best ornament of the body is health, and of the mind, virtue.
-"And since," saith Xenophon, "it is virtue and temperance that
-render us commendable, and that it is only the Lacedæmonians that
-reverence them publicly, and have made it the foundation of their
-state; their government, of right, merits preference to any other
-in the world. But that," saith he, "which is strange, is, that all
-admire it, but none imitate it." Nor is this account and judgment
-fantastical.
-
-XXXI. Lycurgus, their famous founder and lawgiver, instilled these
-principles, and by his power with them, made them laws to rule
-them. Let us hear what he did: Lycurgus, willing to retire his
-citizens from a luxurious to a virtuous life, and show them how
-much good conduct and honest industry might meliorate the state of
-mankind, applied himself to introduce a new model of government,
-persuading them to believe, that though they were descended of noble
-and virtuous ancestors, if they were not exercised in a course of
-virtue, they would, like the dog in the kitchen, rather leap at
-the meat than run at the game. In fine, they agreed to obey him.
-The first thing then that he did to try his power with them, was,
-to divide the land into equal portions, so that the whole Laconic
-country seemed but the lots of brethren: this grieved the rich;
-but the poor, which were the most, rejoiced.--He rendered wealth
-useless by community; and forbad the use of gold and silver: he made
-money of iron, too base and heavy to make a thief. He retrenched
-their laws of building, suffering no more ornament than could be
-made with a hatchet and a saw: and their furniture was like their
-houses. This course disbanded many trades: no merchant, no cook, no
-lawyer, no flatterer, no divine, no astrologer, was to be found in
-Lacedæmonia. Injustice was banished, their society having cut up
-the root of it, which is avarice, by introducing a community, and
-making gold and silver useless. To prevent the luxury of tables, as
-well as of apparel, he ordained public places of eating, where all
-should publicly be served; those that refused to come thither, were
-reputed voluptuous and reproved, if not corrected. He forbad costly
-offerings in the temple, that they might offer often; for that God
-regardeth the heart, not the offering.--These and some more, were
-the laws he instituted; and whilst the Spartans kept them, it is
-certain they were the first state of Greece; which lasted about five
-hundred years. It is remarkable, that he would never suffer the
-laws to be written, to avoid barratry; and that the judges might
-not be tied religiously to the letter of the law; but left to the
-circumstances of fact; in which no inconvenience was observed to
-follow.
-
-
-II. _The_ ROMANS _also yielded us instances to our point in hand_,
-viz.
-
-     1. Cato.--2. Scipio Africanus.--3. Augustus.--4. Vespasian.--5.
-     Trajan.--6. Adrian.--7. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.--8.
-     Pertinax.--9. Pescennius.--10. Alexander Severus.--11.
-     Dioclesian.--12. Theodosius.
-
-1. Cato, that sage Roman, seeing a luxurious man loaded with flesh,
-"Of what service," saith he, "can that man be, either to himself,
-or the commonwealth?" One day beholding the statues of several
-persons erecting, that he thought little worthy of remembrance, that
-he might despise the pride of it, "I had rather," said he, "they
-should ask, why they set not up a statue to Cato, than why they
-do."--He was a man of severity of life, both example and judge.--His
-competitors in the government, hoping to be preferred, took the
-contrary humour, and mightily flattered the people: this good man
-despised their arts, and with an unusual fervency cried out, "That
-the distempers of the commonwealth did not require flatterers to
-deceive them, but physicians to cure them;" which struck so great
-an awe upon the people, that he was first chosen of them all.--The
-fine dames of Rome became governors to their husbands; he lamented
-the change, saying, "It is strange that those who command the world
-should yet be subject to women."--He thought those judges, that
-would not impartially punish malefactors, greater criminals than
-the malefactors themselves: a good lesson for judges of the world.
-He would say, That it was better to lose a gift than a correction;
-"for," says he, "the one corrupts us, but the other instructs
-us.--That we ought not to separate honour from virtue; for then
-there would be few any more virtuous." He would say, "No man is fit
-to command another, that cannot command himself. Great men should
-be temperate in their power, that they may keep it. For men to be
-too long in offices in a government, is to have too little regard
-to others, or the dignity of the state. They that do nothing, will
-learn to do evil. That those who have raised themselves by their
-vices, should gain to themselves credit by virtue." He repented him,
-that ever he passed away one day without doing good. And that there
-is no witness any man ought to fear, but that of his own conscience.
-Nor did his practice fall much short of his principles.
-
-II. Scipio Africanus, though a great general, loaded with honours
-and triumphs, preferred retirement to them all; being used to say,
-That he was never less alone, than when he was alone: implying,
-that the most busy men in the world, are the most destitute of
-themselves; and, that external solitariness gives the best company
-within. After he had taken Carthage, his soldiers brought him a most
-beautiful prisoner; he answered, "I am your general;" refusing to
-debase himself, or dishonour her.
-
-III. Augustus eating at the table of one of his friends, where a
-poor slave breaking a crystal vessel, fell upon his knees, begging
-him that his master might not fling him to the lampreys; as he had
-use to do for food, with such of them that offended him: Augustus
-hating his friend's cruelty, broke all his friend's crystal vessels,
-both reproving his luxury and his severity. He never recommended any
-of his own children, but he always added, If they deserve it. He
-reproved his daughter for her excess in apparel, and both rebuked
-and imprisoned her for her immodest latitudes. The people of Rome
-complaining that wine was dear, he sent them to the fountains,
-telling them they were cheap.
-
-IV. Vespasian was a great and an extraordinary man, who maintained
-something of the Roman virtue in his time. One day seeing a young
-man finely dressed, and richly perfumed, he was displeased with
-him, saying, "I had rather smell the poor man's garlic, than thy
-perfume:" and took his place and government from him. A certain
-person being brought before him, that had conspired against him,
-he reproved him, and said, "That it was God who gave and took away
-empires." Another time conferring favour upon his enemy, and being
-asked why he did so, he answered, that he should remember the right
-way.
-
-V. Trajan would say, "That it became an emperor to act towards his
-people, as he would have his people act towards him." The governor
-of Rome having delivered the sword into his hand, and created him
-emperor; "Here," saith he, "take it again: if I reign well, use it
-for me: if ill, use it against me." An expression which shows great
-humility and goodness, making power subservient to virtue.
-
-VI. Adrian, also emperor, had several sayings worthy of notice: one
-was, "That a good prince did not think the estates of his subjects
-belonging to him." He would say, "That kings should not act the
-king:" that is, should be just, and mix sweetness with greatness,
-and be conversible with good men. "That the treasures of princes
-are like the spleen, that never swells, but it makes other parts
-shrink:" teaching princes thereby to spare their subjects.--Meeting
-one that was his enemy before he was emperor, he cried out to him,
-"Now thou hast no more to fear:" intimating, that, having power to
-revenge himself, he would rather use it to do him good.
-
-VII. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, a good man, (the Christians of
-his time felt it,) commended his son for weeping at his tutor's
-death, answering those that would have rendered it unsuitable to
-his condition, "Let him alone," says he, "it is fit he should
-show himself a man, before he be a prince." He did nothing in the
-government without consulting his friends, and would say, "It is
-more just that one should follow the advice of many, than many
-the mind of one." He was more philosopher than emperor: for his
-dominions were greater within than without. And having commanded his
-own passions by a circumspect conformity to virtuous principles,
-he was fit to rule those of other men. Take some of his excellent
-sayings, as followeth: "Of my grandfather Verus I have learned to be
-gentle and meek, and to refrain from all anger and passion. From the
-fame and memory of him that begot me, shamefacedness, and manlike
-behaviour. I observed his meekness, his constancy without wavering,
-in those things, which, after a due examination and deliberation,
-he had determined. How free from all vanity he carried himself in
-matters of honour and dignity! His laboriousness and assiduity: his
-readiness to hear any man that had ought to say, tending to any
-common good. His moderate condescending to other men's occasions
-as an ordinary man.--Of my mother, to be religious and bountiful,
-and to forbear not only to do, but to intend any evil. To content
-myself with a spare diet, and to fly all such excess as is incident
-to great wealth.--Of my grandfather, both to frequent public schools
-and auditories, and to get me good and able teachers at home; and
-that I ought not to think much, if upon such occasions I were at
-excessive charge. I gave over the study of rhetoric and poetry, and
-of elegant, neat language. I did not use to walk about the house in
-my senator's robe, nor to do any such things. I learned to write
-letters without any affectation and curiosity; and to be easy, and
-ready to be reconciled, and well pleased again with them that had
-offended me, as soon as any of them would be content to seek unto me
-again. To observe carefully the several dispositions of my friends,
-and not to be offended with idiots, nor unreasonably to set upon
-those, that are carried away with the vulgar opinions, with the
-theorems and tenets of philosophers. To love truth and justice,
-and to be kind and loving to all them of my house and family, I
-learned from my brother Severus: and it was he that put me in the
-first conceit and desire of an equal commonwealth, administered by
-justice and equality; and of a kingdom, wherein should be regarded
-nothing more than the good and welfare, or liberty of the subjects.
-As for God, and such suggestions, helps, and inspirations, as might
-be expected, nothing did hinder, but that I might have begun long
-before to live according to nature: or that even now, that I was
-not yet partaker, and in present possession of that life, I myself
-(in that I did not observe those inward motions and suggestions;
-yea, and almost plain and apparent instructions and admonitions of
-God) was the only cause of it.--I that understand the nature of
-that which is good, that it is to be desired; and of that which is
-bad, that it is odious and shameful: who know moreover, that this
-transgressor, whoever he be, is my kinsman, not by the same blood
-and seed, but by participation of the same reason, and of the same
-divine participle, or principle: how can I either be hurt by any
-of these, since it is not in their power to make me incur anything
-that is reproachful, or be angry or ill affected towards him, who by
-nature is so near unto me? For we are all born to be fellow-workers,
-as the feet, the hands, and the eyelids; as the rows of upper and
-under teeth: for such therefore to be in opposition, is against
-nature."--He saith, "It is high time for thee to understand true
-nature, both of the world, whereof thou art a part, and of that Lord
-and Governor of the world, from whom, as a channel from the spring,
-thou thyself didst flow. And that there is but a certain limit of
-time appointed unto thee, which if thou shalt not make use of, to
-calm and allay the many distempers of thy soul, it will pass away,
-and thou with it, and never after return.--Do, soul, do abuse and
-contemn thyself yet awhile, and the time for thee to repent thyself
-will be at an end. Every man's happiness depends upon himself;
-but, behold! thy life is almost at an end, whilst not regarding
-thyself as thou oughtest, thou dost make thy happiness to consist
-in the souls and conceits of other men. Thou must also take heed of
-another kind of wandering; for they are idle in their actions who
-toil and labour in their life, and have no certain scope to which
-to direct all their motions and desires. As for life and death,
-honour and dishonour, labour and pleasure, riches and poverty, all
-these things happen unto men indeed, both good and bad equally; but
-as things, which of themselves are neither good nor bad, because of
-themselves neither shameful nor praiseworthy. Consider the nature
-of all worldly visible things; of those especially, which either
-ensnare by pleasure, or for their irksomeness are dreadful; or for
-their outward lustre and show, are in great esteem and request; how
-vile and contemptible, how base and corruptible, how destitute of
-all true life and being they are. There is nothing more wretched
-than that soul, which in a kind of circuit compasseth all things;
-searching even the very depths of all the earth, and, by all signs
-and conjectures, prying into the very thoughts of other men's
-souls; and yet of this is not sensible, that it is sufficient for
-a man to apply himself wholly, and confine all his thoughts and
-cares to the guidance of that Spirit which is within him, and truly
-and really serve him. For even the least things ought not to be
-done without relation unto the end; and the end of the reasonable
-creature is, to follow and obey him who is the reason, as it were,
-and the law of this great city, and most ancient commonwealth.
-Philosophy doth consist in this, for a man to preserve that spirit
-which is within him, from all manner of contumelies and injuries,
-and above all pains and pleasures, never to do anything either
-rashly, or feignedly, or hypocritically: he that is such is surely
-indeed a very priest and minister of God, well acquainted, and in
-good correspondence with him especially, that is seated and placed
-within himself; to whom also he keeps and preserveth himself;
-neither spotted by pleasure, nor daunted by pain; free from any
-manner of wrong or contumely. Let thy God that is in thee, to rule
-over thee, find by thee, that he hath to do with a man, an aged
-man, a sociable man, a Roman, a prince, and that hath ordered his
-life, as one that expecteth, as it were, nothing but the sound of
-the trumpet, sounding a retreat to depart out of this life with all
-readiness. Never esteem anything as profitable, which shall ever
-constrain thee, either to break thy faith, or to lose thy modesty:
-to hate any man, to suspect, to curse, to dissemble, to lust after
-anything that requireth the secret of walls or veils. But he that
-preferreth, before all things, his rational part and spirit, and
-the sacred mysteries of virtue which issue from it, he shall never
-want either solitude or company; and, which is chiefest of all, he
-shall live without either desire or fear. If thou shalt intend that
-which is present, following the rule of right and reason carefully,
-solidly, meekly; and shalt not intermix any other business, but
-shalt study this, to preserve thy spirit unpolluted and pure: and
-as one that were even now ready to give up the ghost; shalt cleave
-unto him, without either hope or fear of anything, in all things
-that thou shalt either do or speak, contenting thyself with heroical
-truth, thou shalt live happily: and from this there is no man that
-can hinder thee. Without relation to God, thou shalt never perform
-aright anything human; nor on the other side anything divine. At
-what time soever thou wilt, it is in thy power to retire into
-thyself, and to be at rest: for a man cannot retire any whither to
-be more at rest, and freer from all business, than into his own
-soul. Afford then thyself this retiring continually, and thereby
-refresh and renew thyself. Death hangeth over thee, whilst yet
-thou livest, and whilst thou mayest be good. How much time and
-leisure doth he gain, who is not curious to know what his neighbour
-hath said, or hath done, or hath attempted, but only what he doth
-himself, that it may be just and holy. Neither must he use himself
-to cut off actions only, but thoughts and imaginations also that
-are not necessary; for so will unnecessary consequent actions the
-better be prevented and cut off. He is poor that stands in need of
-another, and hath not in himself all things needful for his life.
-Consider well, whether magnanimity rather, and true liberty, and
-true simplicity, and equanimity, and holiness, whether these be not
-most reasonable and natural. Honour that which is chiefest and most
-powerful in the world, and that is it which makes use of all things,
-and governs all things: so also in thyself, honour that which is
-chiefest and most powerful, and is of one kind and nature with that;
-for it is the very same, which being in thee, turneth all other
-things to its own use, and by whom also thy life is governed. What
-is it that thou dost stay for? An extinction or a translation; for
-either of them, with a propitious and contented mind. But till that
-time come, what will content thee? What else, but to worship and
-praise God, and do good unto men?" As he lay dying, and his friends
-about him, he spake thus: "Think more of death, than of me, and that
-you and all men must die as well as I." Adding, "I recommend my son
-to you, and to God, if he be worthy."
-
-VIII. Pertinax, also emperor, being advised to save himself from the
-fury of the mutineers, answered "No: what have I done that I should
-do so?" Showing that innocence is bold, and should never give ground
-where it can show itself, be heard, and have fair play.
-
-IX. Pescennius seeing the corruption that reigned among officers of
-justice, advised, "That judges should have first salaries, that they
-might do their duty without any other bribes or perquisites." He
-said, "He would not offend the living that he might be praised when
-he was dead."
-
-X. Alexander Severus having tasted both of a private life, and the
-state of an emperor, had this censure; "Emperors," says he, "are ill
-managers of the public revenue to feed so many unuseful mouths;"
-wherefore he retrenched his family from pompous to serviceable.
-He would not employ persons of quality in his domestic service,
-thinking it too mean for them and too costly for him: adding, "That
-personal service was the work of the lowest order of the people."
-He would never suffer offices of justice to be sold; "For," saith
-he, "it is not strange that men should sell what they buy;" meaning
-justice. He was impartial in correction: "My friends," says he, "are
-dear to me; but the commonwealth is dearer." Yet he would say, "That
-sweetening power to the people made it lasting. That we ought to
-gain our enemies as we keep our friends:" that is, by kindness. He
-said, "That we ought to desire happiness and to bear afflictions;
-that those which are desirable may be pleasant; but the troubles
-we avoid may have most profit in the end." He did not like pomp in
-religion: for it is not gold that recommends the sacrifice, but the
-piety of him that offers it. A house being in contest betwixt some
-Christians and keepers of taverns, the one to perform religion, the
-other to sell drink therein, he decided the matter thus: "That it
-were much better that it were any way employed to worship God than
-to make a tavern of it." Behold! by this we may see the wisdom and
-virtue that shined among the heathens.
-
-XI. Dioclesian would say, that there was nothing more difficult than
-to reign well: and the reason he gave was, that those who had the
-ears of princes do so continually lay ambushes to surprise them to
-their interests, that they can hardly make one right step.
-
-XII. Theodosius the younger was so merciful in his nature, that
-instead of putting people to death, he wished it were in his power
-to call the dead to life again.
-
-These were the sentiments of the ancient grandees of the world, to
-wit, emperors, kings, princes, captains, statesmen, &c. not unworthy
-of the thoughts of persons of the same figure and quality now in
-being: and for that end they are here collected, that such may with
-more ease and brevity behold the true statutes of the ancients, not
-lost or lessened by the decays of time.
-
-
-III. _I will now proceed to report the virtuous doctrines and
-sayings of men of more retirement; such as philosophers and writers,
-both Greeks and Romans, who in their respective times were masters
-in the civility, knowledge, and virtue that were among the Gentiles,
-being most of them many ages before the coming of Christ_, _viz._
-
-     1. Thales.--2. Pythagoras.--3. Solon.--4. Chilon.--5.
-     Periander.--6. Bias.--7. Cleobulus.--8. Pittacus.--9.
-     Hippias.--10. The Bambycatii.--11. The Gynæcosmi.--12.
-     Anacharsis.--13. Anaxagoras.--14. Heraclitus.--15.
-     Democritus.--16. Socrates.--17. Plato.--18. Antisthenes.--19.
-     Xenocrates.--20. Bion.--21. Demonax.--22. Diogenes.--23.
-     Crates.--24. Aristotle.--25. Mandanis.--26. Zeno.--27.
-     Seneca.--28. Epictetus.
-
-I. Thales, an ancient Greek philosopher, being asked by a person
-that had committed adultery if he might swear, answered, "By no
-means; for perjury is no less sinful than adultery; and so thou
-wouldst commit two sins to cover one." Being asked what was the best
-condition of a government, answered, "That the people be neither
-rich nor poor:" for he placed external happiness in moderation.
-He would say, "That the hardest thing in the world was to know a
-man's self; but the best to avoid those things which we reprove in
-others;" an excellent and close saying, "That we ought to choose
-well and then to hold fast. That the felicity of the body consists
-in health, and that in temperance; and the felicity of the soul in
-wisdom." He thought "That God was without beginning or end; that
-he was the searcher of hearts; that he saw the thoughts as well as
-actions: for being asked of one if he could sin and hide it from
-God, he answered, 'No: how can I when he who thinks evil cannot?'"
-
-II. Pythagoras, a famous and virtuous philosopher of Italy, being
-asked when men might take the pleasure of their passions, answered,
-"When they have a mind to be worse." He said the world was like a
-comedy, and the true philosophers the spectators. He would say,
-"That luxury led to debauchery, and debauchery to violence, and
-that to bitter repentance: that he who taketh too much care of
-his body makes the prison of his soul more insufferable: that
-those who do reprove us are our best friends; that men ought to
-preserve their bodies from diseases by temperance, their souls from
-ignorance by meditation, their will from vice by self-denial, and
-their country from civil war by justice: that it is better to be
-loved than feared; that virtue makes bold: but," saith he, "there
-is nothing so fearful as an evil conscience." He said, "That men
-should believe in a Divinity, that he _is_, and that he overlooks
-them, and neglecteth them not; there is no being nor place without
-God." He told the senators of Croton, being two thousand, praying
-his advice, "That they received their country as a depositum, or
-trust from the people; wherefore they should manage it accordingly,
-since they were to resign their account, with their trust to their
-children; that the way to do it was to be equal to all citizens, and
-to excel them in nothing more than justice; that every one of them
-should so govern his family that he might refer himself to his own
-house as to a court of judicature, taking great care to preserve
-natural affection; that they be examples of temperance in their
-own families, and to the city; that in courts of judicature none
-attest God by an oath, but use themselves so to speak as they may
-be believed without an oath: that the discourse of that philosopher
-is vain, by which no passion of a man is healed; for as there is
-no benefit of medicine if it expel not diseases out of bodies, so
-neither of philosophy if it expel not evil out of the soul."
-
-III. Solon, esteemed as Thales, one of the seven sages of Greece, a
-noble philosopher, and a lawgiver to the Athenians, was so humble
-that he refused to be prince of that people, and voluntarily
-banished himself when Pisastratus usurped the government there;[5]
-resolving never to outlive the laws and freedom of his country.
-He would say, that to make a government last the magistrates must
-obey the laws, and the people the magistrates. It was his judgment,
-that riches brought luxury, and luxury brought tyranny. Being
-asked by Croesus, king of Lydia, when seated on his throne richly
-clothed and magnificently attended, if he had ever seen anything
-more glorious; he answered, cocks, peacocks, and pheasants; by how
-much their beauty is natural. These undervaluing expressions of
-wise Solon, meeting so pat upon the pride and luxury of Croesus,
-they parted; the one desirous of toys and vanities, the other an
-example and instructor of true nobility and virtue, that contemned
-the king's effeminacy. Another time Croesus asked him who was
-the happiest man in the world; expecting he would have said
-Croesus,[6] because the most famous for wealth in those parts: he
-answered, "Tellus, who, though poor, yet was an honest and good
-man, and contented with what he had: who, after he had served the
-commonwealth faithfully, and seen his children and grandchildren
-virtuously educated, died for his country in a good old age, and was
-carried by his children to his grave." This much displeased Croesus,
-but he dissembled it. Whilst Solon recommended the happiness of
-Tellus, Croesus, moved, demanded to whom he assigned the next place;
-making no question but himself should be named, "Cleobis," saith
-he, "and Bito, brethren that loved well, had a competency, were of
-great health and strength; most tender and obedient to their mother,
-religious of life, who after sacrificing in the temple fell asleep
-and waked no more." Hereat Croesus growing angry, "Strange!" saith
-he, "doth our happiness seem so despicable that thou wilt not rank
-us equal with private persons?" Solon answered, "Dost thou inquire
-of us about human affairs? Knowest thou not that Divine Providence
-is severe, and often full of alteration? Do not we in process of
-time see many things we would not? Aye, and suffer many things
-we would not? Count man's life at seventy years, which makes[7]
-twenty-six thousand two hundred and fifty and odd days, there is
-scarcely one day like another: so that every one, O Croesus! is
-attended with crosses. Thou appearest to me very rich, and king over
-many people; but the question thou askest I cannot resolve till I
-hear thou hast ended thy days happily: for he that hath much wealth
-is not happier than he that gets his bread from day to day, unless
-Providence continue those good things, and that he dieth well.
-Solon, after his discourse, not flattering Croesus, was dismissed,
-and accounted unwise that he neglected the present good out of
-regard to the future. Æsop, that wrote the fables, being then at
-Sardis, sent for thither by Croesus, and much in favour with him,
-was grieved to see Solon so unthankfully dismissed, and said to
-him, "Solon, we must either tell kings nothing at all or what may
-please them:" "No," saith Solon, "either nothing at all, or what is
-best for them." However it was not long ere Croesus was of another
-mind; for being taken prisoner by Cyrus, the founder of the Persian
-monarchy, and by his command fettered and put on a pile of wood to
-be burned, Croesus sighed deeply,[8] and cried, "O Solon! Solon!"
-Cyrus bid the interpreter ask on whom he called. He was silent;
-at last pressing him, answered, "Upon him who I desire above all
-wealth, would have spoken with all tyrants." This not understood,
-upon further importunity he told them, "Solon, an Athenian, who
-long since," says he, "came to me, and seeing my wealth, despised
-it; besides, what he told me is come to pass; nor did his counsel
-belong to me alone, but to all mankind, especially those that think
-themselves happy." Whilst Croesus said thus, the fire began to
-kindle and the outparts to be seized by the flame: Cyrus, informed
-of the interpreters what Croesus said, began to be troubled; and
-knowing himself to be a man, and that to use another, not inferior
-to himself in wealth, so severely, might one day be retaliated,
-instantly commanded the fire to be quenched, and Croesus and his
-friends to be brought off: whom ever after, as long as he lived,
-Cyrus had in great esteem. Thus Solon gained due praise, that of
-two kings his advice saved one and instructed the other. And as it
-was in Solon's time that tragical plays were first invented, so
-he was most severe against them; foreseeing the inconveniencies
-that followed upon the people's being affected with the novelty of
-pleasure. It is reported of him that he went himself to the play,
-and after it was ended he went to Thespis, the great actor, and
-asked him if he were not ashamed to tell so many lies in the face of
-so great an auditory. Thespis answered, as it is now usual, "There
-is no harm nor shame to act such things in jest." Solon, striking
-his staff hard upon the ground, replied, "But in a short time we who
-approve of this kind of jest shall use it in earnest in our common
-affairs and contracts." In fine, he absolutely forbade him to teach
-or act plays, conceiving them deceitful and unprofitable; diverting
-youth and tradesmen from more necessary and virtuous employments. He
-defined them happy who are competently furnished with their outward
-callings,[9] that live temperately and honestly: he would say that
-cities are the common sewer of wickedness. He affirmed that to be
-the best family which got not unjustly, kept not unfaithfully,
-spent not with repentance. "Observe," saith he, "honesty in thy
-conversation more strictly than an oath. Seal words with silence;
-silence with opportunity. Never lie, but speak the truth. Fly
-pleasure, for it brings sorrow. Advise not the people what is most
-pleasant, but what is best. Make not friends in haste, nor hastily
-part with them. Learn to obey, and thou wilt know how to command.
-Be arrogant to none; be mild to those about thee. Converse not with
-wicked persons. Meditate on serious things. Reverence thy parents.
-Cherish thy friend. Conform to reason, and in all things take
-counsel of God." In fine, his two short sentences were these:[10]
-"Of nothing too much;" and "Know thyself."
-
-  [5] Plut. Herod.
-
-  [6] Plut. Laert.
-
-  [7] According to the Athenian account.
-
-  [8] Herod. Halic.
-
-  [9] Stob. Sent. 3.
-
-  [10] Clem. Alex. Strom.
-
-IV. Chilon, another of the wise men of Greece, would say, that it
-was the perfection of a man, to foresee and prevent mischiefs; that
-herein good people differ from bad ones, their hopes were firm and
-assured; that God was the great touchstone, or rule of mankind; that
-men's tongues ought not to outrun their judgment: that we ought
-not to flatter great men, lest we exalt them above their merit
-and station; nor to speak hardly of the helpless. They that would
-govern a state well, must govern their families well. He would say,
-that a man ought so to behave himself, that he fall neither into
-hatred nor disgrace. That that commonwealth is happiest where the
-people mind the law more than the lawyers. Men should not forget the
-favours they receive, nor remember those they do. Three things, he
-said, were difficult, yet necessary to be observed: to keep secrets,
-forgive injuries, and use time well. "Speak not ill," says he, "of
-thy neighbour. Go slowly to the feast of thy friends, but swiftly
-to their troubles. Speak well of the dead. Shun busybodies. Prefer
-loss before covetous gain. Despise not the miserable. If powerful,
-behave thyself mildly, that thou mayst be loved rather than feared.
-Order thy house well: bridle thy anger: grasp not at much: make not
-haste, neither dote upon anything below. A prince," saith he, "must
-not take up his time about transitory and mortal things; eternal and
-immortal are fittest for him." To conclude: he was so just in all
-his actions, that Laertius tells us, he professed in his old age,
-that he had never done anything contrary to the conscience of an
-upright man; only, that of one thing he was doubtful, having given
-sentence against his friend, according to law, he advised his friend
-to appeal from him his judge, so to preserve both his friend and the
-law. Thus true and tender was conscience in heathen Chilon.
-
-V. Periander, prince and philosopher too, would say, that pleasures
-are mortal, but virtues immortal.[11] "In success be moderate, in
-disappointments, patient and prudent. Be alike to thy friends, in
-prosperity, and in adversity. Peace is good; rashness dangerous;
-gain sordid. Betray not secrets: punish the guilty: restrain men
-from sin. They that would rule safely, must be guarded by love, not
-arms. To conclude," saith he, "live worthy of praise, so wilt thou
-die blessed."
-
-  [11] Baart. Suid. Protag. Stob. xxviii.
-
-VI. Bias, one of the seven wise men, being in a storm with wicked
-men, who cried mightily to God; "Hold your tongues,"[12] saith he,
-"it were better He knew not you were here:" a saying that hath great
-doctrine in it; the devotion of the wicked doth them no good: it
-answers to that passage in Scripture, "The prayers of the wicked are
-an abomination to the Lord." (Prov. xv. 8.) An ungodly man asking
-him what godliness was, he was silent: but the other murmuring,
-saith he, "What is that to thee, that is not thy concern?" He was
-so tender in his nature, that he seldom judged a criminal to death,
-but he wept; adding, "One part goeth to God, and the other part I
-must give the law." "That man is unhappy," saith he, "that cannot
-bear affliction. It is a disease of the mind, to desire that which
-cannot, or is not fit to be had. It is an ill thing, not to be
-mindful of other men's miseries." To one that asked what is hard,
-he answered, "To bear cheerfully a change for the worse." "Those,"
-says he, "who busy themselves in vain knowledge, resemble owls that
-see by night, and are blind by day; for they are sharp-sighted
-in vanity, but dark at the approach of true light and knowledge."
-He adds, "Undertake deliberately; but then go through. Speak not
-hastily, lest thou sin. Be neither silly nor subtle. Hear much;
-speak little and seasonably. Make profession of God everywhere;
-and impute the good thou dost, not to thyself, but to the power of
-God." His country being invaded, and the people flying with the best
-of their goods, asked, why he carried none of his; "I," saith he,
-"carry my goods within me."--Valerius Maximus adds, "in his breast;"
-not to be seen by the eye, but to be prized by the soul; not to be
-demolished by mortal hands; present with them that stay, and not
-forsaking those that fly.
-
-  [12] Laert. Stob.
-
-VII. Cleobulus, prince and philosopher of Lyndus:[13] he would
-say, "That it was man's duty to be always employed upon something
-that was good." Again, "Be never vain nor ungrateful. Bestow your
-daughters, virgins in years, but matrons in discretion. Do good to
-thy friend, to keep him; to thy enemy, to gain him. When any man
-goeth forth, let him consider what he hath to do; when he returneth,
-examine what he hath done. Know, that to reverence thy father is thy
-duty. Hear willingly, but trust not hastily. Obtain by persuasion,
-not by violence. Being rich, be not exalted: poor, be not dejected.
-Forego enmity. Instruct thy children. Pray to God, and persevere in
-godliness."
-
-  [13] Laert. Plut. Sympos. Sap. Sep. Stob. Ser.
-
-VIII. Pittacus being asked what was best, he answered, "to do the
-present thing well."[14] He would say, what thou dost take ill
-in thy neighbour, do not thyself. Reproach not the unhappy; for
-the hand of God is upon them. Be true to thy trust. Bear with thy
-neighbour: love thy neighbour. Reproach not thy friend, though he
-recede from thee a little. He would say that commonwealth is best
-ordered where the wicked have no command, and that family, which
-hath neither ornament nor necessity. To conclude: he advised to
-acquire honesty; love discipline; observe temperance; gain prudence;
-mind diligence; and keep truth, faith, and piety. He had a brother,
-who, dying without issue, left him his estate; so that when Croesus
-offered him wealth he answered, "I have more by half than I desire."
-He also affirmed that family the best who got not unjustly, kept not
-unfaithfully, spent not with repentance; and that happiness consists
-in a virtuous and honest life: in being content with a competency
-of outward things, and in using them temperately. And to conclude,
-he earnestly enjoined all to flee corporeal pleasure; "for," says
-he, "it certainly brings sorrow: but observe an honest life more
-strictly than an oath: meditate on serious things."
-
-  [14] Plutarch. Stob. xxviii.
-
-IX. Hippias, a philosopher: it is recorded of him[15] that he would
-have every one provide his own necessaries; and, that he might do
-what he taught, he was his own tradesman. He was singular in all
-such arts and employments, insomuch as he made the very buskins he
-wore. A better life than Alexander's.
-
-  [15] Cic. lib. de Orat.
-
-X. The Bambycatii[16] were a certain great people that inhabited
-about the river Tigris, in Asia, who, observing the great influence
-gold, silver, and precious jewels had upon their minds, agreed
-to bury all in the earth to prevent the corruption of their
-manners.--They used inferior metals, and lived with very ordinary
-accommodation; wearing mostly but one very grave and plain robe to
-cover nakedness. It were well if Christians would mortify their
-insatiable appetites after wealth and vanity any way, for heathens
-judge their excess.
-
-  [16] Plin.
-
-XI. The Athenians had two distinct numbers of men, called the
-Gynæcosmi and Gynæconomi.[17] These were appointed by the
-magistrates to overlook the actions of the people: the first
-were to see that they apparelled and behaved themselves gravely;
-especially that women were of modest behaviour; and the other were
-to be present at their treats and festivals, to see that there was
-no excess, nor disorderly carriage; and in case any were found
-criminal, they had full power to punish them. When, alas! when shall
-this care and wisdom be seen amongst the Christians of these times,
-that so intemperance might be prevented? But it is too evident
-they love the power and the profits, but despise the virtue of
-government, making it an end instead of a means to that happy end,
-viz. the well ordering the manners and conversation of the people,
-and equally distributing rewards and punishments.
-
-  [17] Vid. Suid.
-
-XII. Anacharsis, a Scythian, was a great philosopher;[18] Croesus
-offered him large sums of money, but he refused them. Hanno did the
-like, to whom he answered, "My apparel is a Scythian rug; my shoes,
-the hardness of my feet; my bed, the earth; my sauce, hunger: you
-may come to me as one that is contented; but those gifts which you
-so much esteem, bestow on your citizens."
-
-  [18] Cic. Tusc. Quest. 5; Clem. Alex. Strom.
-
-XIII. Anaxagoras, a nobleman, but true philosopher,[19] left his
-great patrimony to seek out wisdom; and being reproved by his
-friends for the little care he had of his estate, answered, "It is
-enough that you care for it." One asked him why he had no more love
-for his country than to leave it; "Wrong me not," saith he, "my
-greatest care is my country," pointing his finger towards heaven.
-Returning home, and taking a view of his great possessions, "If
-I had not disregarded them," saith he, "I had perished." He was
-a great clearer and improver of the doctrine of One Eternal God,
-denying divinity to sun, moon, and stars, saying, "God was infinite,
-not confined to place; the eternal wisdom and efficient cause of
-all things; the divine mind and understanding; who, when matter was
-confused, came and reduced it to order, which is the world we see."
-He suffered much from some magistrates for his opinion; yet dying,
-was admired by them.
-
-  [19] Plut. contra Usur. Lysand. Cic. Tusc. Quest. 5.
-
-XIV. Heraclitus was invited by king Darius, for his great virtue
-and learning, to this effect: "Come as soon as thou canst to my
-presence and royal palace; for the Greeks, for the most part, are
-not obsequious to wise men, but despise the good things which
-they deliver. With me thou shalt have the first place, and daily
-honour and titles: thy way of living shall be as noble as thy
-instructions." But Heraclitus, refusing his offer, returned this
-answer: "Heraclitus to Darius the king, health. Most men refrain
-from justice and truth to pursue insatiableness and vain glory,
-by reason of their folly: but I, having forgotten all evil, and
-shunning the society of inbred envy and pride, will never come to
-the kingdom of Persia, being contented with a little according to
-my own mind." He also slighted the Athenians. He had great and
-clear apprehensions of the nature and power of God, maintaining his
-divinity against the idolatry in fashion. This definition he gives
-of God: "He is not made with hands. The whole world, adorned with
-his creatures, is his mansion. Where is God? Shut up in temples?
-Impious men! who place their God in the dark. It is a reproach to
-a man to tell him he is a stone, yet the god you profess is born
-of a rock: you ignorant people! you know not God: his works bear
-witness of him." Of himself he saith, "O ye men, will ye not learn
-why I never laugh? It is not that I hate men, but their wickedness.
-If you would not have me weep, live in peace: you carry swords in
-your tongues; you plunder wealth, poison friends, betray the trust
-the people repose in you: shall I laugh when I see men do these
-things? Their garments, beards, and heads adorned with unnecessary
-care; a mother deserted by a wicked son; or young men consuming
-their patrimony; others filling their bellies at feasts more with
-poison than with dainties. Virtue would strike me blind if I should
-laugh at your wars. By music, pipes, and stripes you are excited
-to things contrary to all harmony. Iron, a metal more proper for
-ploughs and tillage, is fitted for slaughter and death; men raising
-armies of men, covet to kill one another, and punish them that quit
-the field for not staying to murder men. They honour as valiants
-such as are drunk with blood; but lions, horses, eagles, and other
-creatures, use not swords, bucklers, and instruments of war: their
-limbs are their weapons,--some their horns, some their bills, some
-their wings; to one is given swiftness, to another bigness, to a
-third swimming. No irrational creature useth a sword, but keeps
-itself within the laws of its creation, except man, that doth not
-so, which brings the heavier blame, because he hath the greatest
-understanding.--You must leave your wars, and your wickedness, which
-you ratify by a law, if you would have me leave my severity. I have
-overcome pleasure, I have overcome riches, I have overcome ambition,
-I have mastered flattery: fear hath nothing to object against me,
-drunkenness hath nothing to charge upon me, anger is afraid of me:
-I have won the garland in fighting against these enemies."--This,
-and much more, did he write in his epistles to Hermodorus, of his
-complaints against the great degeneracy of the Ephesians. And in an
-epistle to Aphidamus he writes, "I am fallen sick, Aphidamus, of a
-dropsy; whatsoever is of us, if it get the dominion, it becomes a
-disease. Excess of heat is a fever; excess of cold, a palsy; excess
-of wind a cholic: my disease cometh from excess of moisture. The
-soul is something divine, which keeps all these in a due proportion.
-I know the nature of the world; I know that of man; I know diseases;
-I know health: but if my body be overpressed, it must descend to
-the place ordained; however, my soul shall not descend; but being
-a thing immortal, I shall ascend on high, where a heavenly mansion
-shall receive me."
-
-A most weighty and pathetical discourse: they that know anything
-of God may savour something divine in it. O that the degenerate
-Christians of these times would but take a view of the virtue,
-temperance, zeal, piety, and faith of this heathen, who
-notwithstanding that he lived five hundred years before the coming
-of Christ in the flesh, had these excellent sentences! Yet again,
-he taught that God punisheth not by taking away riches; he rather
-alloweth them to the wicked to discover them; for poverty may be a
-veil. Speaking of God, "How can that light which never sets be ever
-hidden or obscured?" "Justice," saith he, "shall seize one day upon
-defrauders and witnesses of false things." Unless a man hope to the
-end for that which is to be hoped for, he shall not find that which
-is unsearchable; which Clemens, an ancient father, applied to Isaiah
-vi. "Unless you believe, you shall not understand." Heraclitus lived
-solitarily in the mountains; had a sight of his end; and as he was
-prepared for it, so he rejoiced in it. These certainly were the men
-who, having not a law, without them, became a law unto themselves,
-showing forth the work of the law written in their hearts; (Rom.
-ii. 14;) and who for that reason shall judge the circumcision, and
-receive the reward of "Well done," by him who is Judge of quick and
-dead.
-
-XV. Democritus would say, that he had lived to an extraordinary age
-by keeping himself from luxury and excess. That a little estate went
-a great way with men that were neither covetous nor prodigal. That
-luxury furnished great tables with variety: and temperance furnished
-little ones. That riches do not consist in the possession, but right
-use of wealth. He was a man of great retirement, avoiding public
-honours and employments; bewailed by the people of Abdera as mad,
-whilst indeed he only smiled at the madness of the world.
-
-XVI. Socrates, the most religious and learned philosopher of his
-time, and of whom it is reported Apollo gave this character, that
-he was the wisest man on earth,[20] was a man of a severe life,
-and instructed people gratis in just, grave, and virtuous manners;
-for which, being envied by Aristophanes, the vain, comical wit of
-that age, as one spoiling the trade of plays, and exercising the
-generality of the people with more noble and virtuous things,[21]
-was represented by him in a play, in which he rendered Socrates
-so ridiculous, that the vulgar would rather part with Socrates in
-earnest than Socrates in jest; which made way for their impeaching
-him as an enemy to their gods; for which they put him to death. But
-in a short space his eighty judges and the whole people so deeply
-resented the loss, that they slew many of his accusers: some hanged
-themselves; none would trade with them nor answer them a question.
-They erected several statues to his praise; they forbad his name to
-be mentioned, that they might forget their injustice: they called
-home his banished friends and scholars; and by the most wise and
-learned men of that age it is observed, that famous city Athens was
-punished with the most dreadful plagues that ever raged amongst
-them, and all Greece with it never prospered in any considerable
-undertaking, but from that time always decayed. Amongst many of his
-sober and religious maxims upon which he was accustomed to discourse
-with his disciples, these are some:
-
-He taught everywhere that an upright man and a happy man are all
-one. They that do good are employed; they that spend their time in
-recreations are idle.[22] To do good is the best course of life; he
-only is idle who might be better employed. A horse is not known by
-his furniture, but qualities; so men are to be esteemed for virtue,
-not wealth. Being asked who lived without trouble, he answered,
-"Those who are conscious to themselves of no evil thing."[23] To
-one who demanded what was nobility, he answered, "A good temper and
-disposition of soul and body. They who know what they ought to do,
-and do it not, are not wise and temperate, but fools and stupid." To
-one that complained he had not been benefited by his travels, "Not
-without reason," says Socrates, "thou didst travel with thyself:"
-intimating, he knew not the eternal mind of God to direct and inform
-him. Being demanded what wisdom was, said, "A virtuous composure of
-the soul." And being asked who were wise, answered, "Those that sin
-not." Seeing a young man rich, but ignorant of heavenly things, and
-pursuing earthly pleasures; "Behold," says he, "a golden slave.[24]
-Soft ways of living beget neither a good constitution of body nor
-mind. Fine and rich clothes are only for comedians." Being demanded
-from what things men and women ought to refrain, he answered,
-"Pleasure." Being asked what continence and temperance were, said,
-"Government of corporeal desires and pleasures. The wicked live to
-eat, &c. but the good eat to live. Temperate persons become the
-most excellent: eat that which neither hurts the body nor mind, and
-which is easy to be gotten." One saying it was a great matter to
-abstain from what one desires; "But," says he, "it is better not to
-desire at all." This is deep religion, even very hard to professed
-Christians. "It is the property of God to need nothing;[25] and
-they that need and are contented with least come nearest to God.
-The only and best way to worship God is to mind and obey whatsoever
-he commands. That the souls of men and women partake of the divine
-nature: that God is seen of the virtuous mind: that by waiting upon
-him they are united unto him in an accessible place of purity and
-happiness; which God he asserted always to be near him."
-
-  [20] Plat. Apolog. Diog. Laert. Helvic.; Cic. Tusc. Quest. 1;
-  Xenoph. Brut. Cic. Orat. Liban.
-
-  [21] Apol. Varro. Hist. Schol. Artist.
-
-  [22] Clem. Alex. Strom. ii. 417; Xen. Mem. iii. pp. 720, 778, 779,
-  780. Stob. Ech. Strom. i. 11.
-
-  [23] Stob. iv. 6; Ibid. ii. 18; Xenoph. Mem. 3; Seneca Epist. i.
-  104; Stob. 28; Ibid. 32; Xen. Mem. 1; Ælian. 9; Stob. 37.
-
-  [24] Stob. 37; Ibid. 87; Xen. Mem. 34; Ælian. Ver. Hist. 9.
-
-  [25] Stob. 37; Xen. Mem. iv. 802.; Plat. Phæd.
-
-Many more are the excellent sayings of this great man, who was not
-less famous for his sayings than his example, with the greatest
-nations; yet died he a sacrifice to the sottish fury of the vain
-world. The history of his life reports that his father was told[26]
-he should have the guide of his life within him, which should
-be more to him than five hundred masters; which proved true.
-Instructing his scholars herein, charging them not to neglect
-these divine affairs which chiefly concern man, to mind or inquire
-after such things as are without in the visible world. He taught
-the use of outward things[27] only as they were necessary to life
-and commerce; forbidding superfluities and curiosities. He was
-martyred for his doctrine, after having lived seventy years, the
-most admired, followed, and visited of all men in his time by kings
-and commonwealths; and than whom antiquity mentions none with
-more reverence and honour. Well were it for poor England if her
-conceited Christians were true Socrateses; whose strict, just, and
-self-denying life doth not bespeak him more famous than it will
-Christians infamous at the revelation of the righteous judgment,
-where heathens' virtue shall aggravate Christians' intemperance; and
-their humility, the others' excessive pride: and justly too, since
-a greater than Socrates is come, whose name they profess, but they
-will not obey his law.
-
-  [26] Xen. Mem. i. p. 710.
-
-  [27] Xen. Mem. 4.; Plat. de Legib.
-
-XVII. Plato, that famous philosopher and scholar to Socrates,[28]
-was so grave and devoted to divine things, nay, so discreetly
-politic, that in his commonwealth he would not so much as harbour
-poetical fancies, much less upon stages, as being too effeminate,
-and apt to withdraw the minds of youth from more noble, more manly,
-as well as more heavenly exercises. Plato seeing a young man play at
-dice, reproved him sharply; the other answered, "What, for so small
-a matter?" "Custom," saith Plato, "is no small thing:[29] let idle
-hours be spent more usefully. Let youth," said he, "take delight
-in good things; for pleasures are the baits of evil. Observe, the
-momentary sweetness of a delicious life is followed with eternal
-sorrow; the short pain of the contrary, with eternal pleasure."
-Being commanded to put on a purple garment by the king of Sicily,
-he refused, saying he was a man, and scorned such effeminacies.
-Inviting Timothy, the Athenian general to supper, he treated him
-with herbs, water, and such spare diet as he was accustomed to eat.
-Timothy's friends next day, laughing, asked how he was entertained,
-he answered,[30] "Never better in life; for he slept all night after
-his supper:" thereby commending his temperance. He addicted himself
-to religious contemplations: and is said to have lived a virtuous
-and single life, always eyeing and obeying the mind, which he
-sometimes called, "God, the Father of all things;" affirming, "Who
-lived so should become like him, and so be related to, and joined
-with the Divinity itself." This same Plato, upon his dying bed,
-sent for his friends about him, and told them the whole world was
-out of the way, in that they understood not, nor regarded the mind,
-assuring them, those men died most comfortably that lived most
-conformably to right reason, and sought and adored the First Cause,
-meaning God.
-
-  [28] Plato de Rep.
-
-  [29] Diog. Laert. in vit.
-
-  [30] Xen. Crat. Stob. Ælian.
-
-XVIII. Antisthenes, an Athenian philosopher,[31] had taught in the
-study of eloquence several years; but upon his hearing Socrates
-treat of the seriousness of religion, of the divine life, eternal
-rewards, &c. bid all his scholars seek them a new master, for he had
-found one for himself: wherefore selling his estate, he distributed
-it to the poor, and betook himself wholly to the consideration
-of heavenly things; going cheerfully six miles every day to hear
-Socrates.--But where are the like preachers and converts amongst
-the people called Christians? Observe the daily pains of Socrates;
-surely he did not study a week to read a written sermon; we are
-assured of the contrary; for it was frequent with him to preach
-to the people at any time of the day, in the very streets, as
-occasion served, and his good genius moved him. Neither was he a
-hireling, or covetous, for he did it gratis: surely then he had
-not fat benefices, tithes, glebes, &c. And let the self-denial
-and diligence of Antisthenes be considered, who of a philosopher
-and master became a scholar, and that a daily one; surely, it was
-then matter of reproach, as it is now; showing thereby both want
-of knowledge, though called a philosopher, and his great desire to
-obtain it of one that could teach him. None of these used to go to
-plays, balls, treats, &c. They found more serious employments for
-their minds, and were examples of temperance to the world.--I will
-repeat some of his grave sentences, as reported by Laertius, and
-others; namely, "That those are only noble, who are virtuous.[32]
-That virtue was self-sufficient to happiness: that it consisteth
-in actions, not requiring many words, nor much learning, and is
-self-sufficient to wisdom: for that all other things have reference
-thereunto. That men should not govern by force, nor by laws, unless
-good, but by justice."[33] To a friend, complaining he had lost his
-notes, "Thou shouldst have written them upon thy mind," saith he,
-"and not in a book. Those who would never die, must live justly and
-piously."--Being asked what learning was best, "That," saith he,
-"which unlearneth evil."[34] To one that praised a life full of
-pleasures and delicacies:[35] "Let the sons of my enemies," saith
-he, "live delicately:" counting it the greatest misery. "We ought,"
-saith he, "to aim at such pleasures as follow honest labour; and
-not those which go before it."[36] When at any time he saw a woman
-richly dressed, he would, in a way of reproach, bid her husband
-bring out his horse and arms: meaning, if he were prepared to
-justify the injuries such wantonness used to produce, he might the
-better allow those dangerous freedoms: "Otherwise," saith he, "pluck
-off her rich and gaudy attire." He is said to exclaim bitterly
-against pleasures; often saying, "I had rather be mad than addicted
-to pleasure, and spend my days in decking and feeding my carcase.
-Those," says he, "who have once learned the way to temperance
-and virtue, let them not offer to entangle themselves again with
-fruitless stories and vain learning, nor be addicted to corporeal
-delicacies, which dull the mind, and will divert and hinder them
-from the pursuit of those more noble and heavenly virtues." Upon
-the death of his beloved master, Socrates,[37] he instituted a sect
-called Cynics, out of whom came the great sect of Stoics; both
-which had these common principles, which they daily, with great
-and unwearied diligence, did maintain and instruct people in the
-knowledge of, viz., "No man is wise and happy but the good and
-virtuous man.[38] That not much learning nor study of many things
-was necessary. That a wise man is never drunk nor mad: that he never
-sinneth; that a wise man is void of passion: that he is sincere,
-religious, grave: that he only is divine. That such only are priests
-and prophets that have God in themselves. And that his law is
-imprinted in their minds, and the minds of all men:[39] that such
-an one only can pray who is innocent, meek, temperate, ingenuous,
-noble, a good magistrate, father, son, master, servant, and worthy
-of praise." On the contrary, "that wicked men can be none of these:
-that the same belongs to men and women."
-
-  [31] Laert. vit. Socr. Ælian.
-
-  [32] Laert.
-
-  [33] Stob.
-
-  [34] Stob. 177.
-
-  [35] Diog. Laert.
-
-  [36] Agel. lib. c. 5.
-
-  [37] Laert. vit. Mem.
-
-  [38] Laert. Plut. de Rep. Stoi. Cic. de aut. Deo, lib. ii.
-
-  [39] Lactant. de Ira Dei, cap. 10.
-
-Their diet was slender, their food only what would satisfy
-nature.[40] Their garments exceeding mean. Their habitations
-solitary and homely. They affirmed, those who lived with fewest
-things and were contented, most nearly approached God, who wants
-nothing. They voluntarily despised riches, glory, and nobility, as
-foolish shows and vain fictions, that had no true and solid worth
-or happiness in them. They made all things to be good and evil, and
-flatly denied the idle stories of fortune and chance.
-
-  [40] Plat. Pl. Ph. 16. Cic. Tul. Quest. 4. Diog. Laert. vit. Mem.
-  Stob.
-
-Certainly these were they who, having no external law, became a
-law unto themselves, and did not abuse the knowledge they had of
-the invisible God, but to their capacities instructed men in the
-knowledge of that righteous, serious, solid, and heavenly principle
-which leads to true and everlasting happiness all those that embrace
-it.
-
-XIX. Xenocrates refused Alexander's present,[41] yet treated his
-ambassadors after his temperate and spare manner, saying, "You see I
-have no need of your master's bounty, that am so well pleased with
-this." He would say, "that one ought not to carry one's eyes or
-one's hands into another man's house:" that is, to be a busy-body.
-That one ought to be most circumspect of one's actions before
-children, lest by example one's faults should outlive one's self.
-He said pride was the greatest obstruction to true knowledge. His
-chastity and integrity were remarkable and reverenced in Athens:
-Phryne, the famous Athenian courtezan, could not place a temptation
-upon him, nor Philip, king of Macedon, a bribe, though the rest sent
-in the embassy were corrupted. And being once brought for a witness,
-the judges rose up, and cried out, "Tender no oath to Xenocrates,
-for he will speak the truth." A respect they did not allow to one
-another. Holding his peace at some detracting discourse, they
-asked him why he spoke not: "Because," saith he, "I have sometimes
-repented of speaking, but never of holding my peace."
-
-  [41] Laert. Val. Max. 4, 3, 2, 16. Cic. Pro. Fal. Val. Max. 7, 2.
-
-XX. Bion would say, that great men walk in slippery places: that
-it is a great mischief not to bear affliction; that ungodliness is
-an enemy to assurance. He said to a covetous man, that he did not
-possess his wealth, but his wealth possessed him; abstaining from
-using it, as if it were another man's. In fine, that men ought to
-pursue a course of virtue, without regard to the praise or reproach
-of men.
-
-XXI. Demonax seeing the great care that men had of their bodies,
-more than of their minds; "They deck the house," saith he, "but
-slight the master." He would say, that many are inquisitive after
-the make of the world, but are little concerned about their own,
-which were a science much more worthy of their pains. To a city that
-would establish the gladiators, or prize-fighters, he said, that
-they ought first to overthrow the altar of mercy; intimating the
-cruelty of such practices. One asking him why he turned philosopher;
-"Because," saith he, "I am a man." He would say of the priests of
-Greece, if they could better instruct the people, they could not
-give them too much; but if not, the people could not give them too
-little. He lamented the unprofitableness of good laws, by being in
-bad men's hands.
-
-XXII. Diogenes was angry with critics that were nice of words
-and not of their own actions; with musicians, that tune their
-instruments but could not govern their passions; with astrologers,
-that have their eyes in the sky, and look not at their own goings;
-with orators, that study to speak well but not to do well; with
-covetous men, that take care to get but never use their estates;
-with those philosophers that despise greatness, and yet court great
-men; and with those that sacrifice for health, and yet surfeit
-themselves with eating their sacrifices. One time, discoursing of
-the nature, pleasure, and reward of virtue, and the people not
-regarding what he said, he fell a singing, at which every one
-pressed to hear; whereupon he cried out, in abhorrence of their
-stupidity, "O God, how much more is the world in love with folly
-than with wisdom!" Seeing a man sprinkling himself with water
-after having done some ill thing, "Unhappy man," saith he, "dost
-thou not know that the errors of life are not to be washed away
-with water?" To one who said, "Life is an ill thing;" he answered,
-"Life is not an ill thing, but an ill life is an ill thing." He was
-very temperate, for his bed and his table he found everywhere. One
-seeing him wash herbs, said, "If thou hadst followed Dionysius,
-king of Sicily, thou wouldst not have needed to have washed herbs;"
-he answered, "If thou hadst washed herbs, thou needest not to have
-followed Dionysius." He lighted a candle at noon, saying, "I look
-for a man;" implying that the world was darkened by vice, and men
-effeminated. To a luxurious person, that had wasted his means,
-supping upon olives; "If," saith he, "thou hadst used to dine so,
-thou wouldst not have needed to sup so." To a young man, dressing
-himself neatly; "If this," saith he, "be for the sake of men, thou
-art unhappy; if for women, thou art unjust." Another time, seeing
-an effeminate young man; "Art thou not ashamed," saith he, "to use
-thyself worse than nature hath made thee? She hath made thee a man,
-but thou wilt force thyself to be a woman." To one that courted a
-bad woman; "O wretch!" said he, "what meanest thou to ask for that
-which is better lost than found?" To one that smelled of sweet
-unguents, "Have a care," saith he, "that this perfume make not thy
-life stink." He compared covetous men to such as have the dropsy;
-those are full of money, yet desire more; these of water, yet thirst
-for more. Being asked what beasts were the worst; "In the field,"
-saith he, "bears and lions; in the city, usurers and flatterers."
-At a feast, one giving him a great cup of wine, he threw it away:
-for which being blamed, "If I had drunk it," saith he, "not only the
-wine would have been lost, but I also." One asking him how he might
-order himself best, he said, "By reproving those things in thyself
-which thou blamest in others." Another demanding what was the
-hardest, he answered, "To know ourselves; to whom we are partial."
-An astrologer discoursing to the people of the wandering stars;
-"No," saith he, "it is not the stars, but these," pointing to the
-people that heard him. Being asked what men are most noble; "They,"
-saith he, "who contemn wealth, honour, and pleasure, and endure the
-contraries, to wit, poverty, scorn, pain, and death." To a wicked
-man, reproaching him for his poverty; "I never knew," saith he, "a
-man punished for his poverty, but many for their wickedness." To one
-bewailing himself that he should not die in his own country; "Be of
-comfort," saith he, "for the way to heaven is alike in every place."
-One day he went backwards; whereat the people laughing, "Are you
-not ashamed," saith he, "to do that all your lifetime, which you
-deride in me?"
-
-XXIII. Crates, a Theban, famous for his self-denial and virtue,
-descended from the house of Alexander, of great estate, at least two
-hundred talents, which having mostly distributed amongst the poor
-citizens, he became a constant professor of the Cynic philosophy.
-He exceedingly inveighed against common women. Seeing at Delphos
-a golden image, that Phryne, the courtezan, had set up by the
-gains of her trade, he cried out, "This is a trophy of the Greeks'
-intemperance." Seeing a young man highly fed and fat: "Unhappy
-youth," said he, "do not fortify thy prison." To another, followed
-by a great many parasites; "Young man," saith he, "I am sorry to
-see thee so much alone." Walking one day upon the Exchange, where
-he beheld people mighty busy after their divers callings; "These
-people," saith he, "think themselves happy; but I am happy that have
-nothing to do with them; for I place my happiness in poverty, not in
-riches. Oh! men do not know how much a wallet, a measure of lupins,
-with security, is worth." Of his wife, Hipparchia, a woman of wealth
-and extraction, but nobler for her love to true philosophy, and how
-they came together, there will be occasion to make mention in its
-place.
-
-XXIV. Aristotle, a scholar to Plato,[42] and the oracle of
-philosophy to these very times, though not so divinely contemplative
-as his master, nevertheless follows him in this, "That luxury should
-by good discipline be exiled human societies."[43] Aristotle seeing
-a youth finely dressed, said, "Art thou not ashamed, when nature
-hath made thee a man, to make thyself a woman?"[44] And to another,
-gazing on his fine cloak; "Why dost thou boast thyself of a sheep's
-fleece?" He said it was the duty of a good man to live so under laws
-as he should do if there were none.
-
-  [42] Stob. Strom. 45.
-
-  [43] Stob. 161.
-
-  [44] Ibid. 46.
-
-XXV. Mandanis, a great and famous philosopher of the Gymnosophists,
-whom Alexander the Great required to come to the feast of Jupiter's
-son, (meaning himself,) declaring, that if he came he should be
-rewarded, if not, he should be put to death; the philosopher
-contemned his message as vain and sordid: he first told them, that
-he denied him to be Jupiter's son; a mere fiction. Next, that as for
-his gifts, he esteemed them nothing worth; his own country could
-furnish him with necessaries; beyond which he coveted nothing. And
-lastly, as for the death he threatened, he did not fear it; but of
-the two, he wished it rather, "In that," saith he, "I am sure it is
-a change to a more blessed and happy state."
-
-XXVI. Zeno, the great Stoic,[45] and author of that philosophy, had
-many things admirable in him; who not only said, but practised.
-He was a man of that integrity, and so reverenced for it by the
-Athenians, that they deposited the keys of the city in his hands,
-as the only person fit to be entrusted with their liberties; yet
-by birth a stranger, being of Citium in Cyprus. Antigonus, king of
-Macedonia, had a great respect for him, and desired his company, as
-the following letter expresseth:
-
-"King Antigonus to Zeno the philosopher, health: I think that I
-exceed thee in fortune and glory; but in learning and discipline,
-and that perfect felicity which thou hast attained, I am exceeded
-by thee; wherefore I thought it expedient to write to thee, that
-thou wilt come to me, assuring myself thou wilt not deny it. Use all
-means therefore to come to us, and know, thou art not to instruct
-me only, but all the Macedonians; for he who teacheth the king
-of Macedonia, and guideth him to virtue, it is evident that he
-doth likewise instruct all his subjects in virtue; for such as is
-the prince, such for the most part are those who live under his
-government."
-
-  [45] Stob. Laert.
-
-Zeno answered thus: "To king Antigonus, Zeno wisheth health: I
-much esteem thy earnest desire of learning, in that thou aimest
-at philosophy; not popular, which perverteth manners, but that
-true discipline which conferreth profit; avoiding that generally
-commended pleasure, which effeminates the souls of men. It is
-manifest that thou art inclined to generous things, not only by
-nature but by choice; with indifferent exercise and assistance, thou
-mayest easily attain to virtue. But I am very infirm of body, being
-fourscore years of age, and so not well able to come; yet I will
-send thee some of my chief disciples, who in those things concerning
-the soul, are nothing inferior to me; and whose instructions, if
-thou wilt follow them, will conduct thee to perfect blessedness."
-
-Thus Zeno refused Antigonus, but sent Persæus, his countryman, and
-Philonides, a Theban. He would say, that nothing was more unseemly
-than pride, especially in youth, which was a time of learning. He
-therefore recommended to young men modesty in three things; in their
-walking, in their behaviour, and in their apparel: often repeating
-those verses of Euripides, in honour of Capaneus:
-
-    "He was not puff'd up with his store,
-     Nor thought himself above the poor."
-
-Seeing a man very finely dressed, stepping lightly over a kennel:
-"That man," saith he, "doth not care for the dirt, because he
-could not see his face in it." He also taught, that people should
-not affect delicacy of diet, no, not in their sickness. To one
-that smelt with unguents; "Who is it," saith he, "that smells so
-effeminately?" Seeing a friend of his taken too much up with the
-business of his land; "Unless thou lose thy land," saith he, "thy
-land will lose thee." Being demanded, whether a man that doth wrong
-may conceal it from God: "No," saith he, "nor yet he who thinks it;"
-which testifies to the omnipresence of God. Being asked, who was his
-best friend, he answered: "My other self;" intimating the divine
-part that was in him. He would say, the end of man was not to live,
-eat, and drink; but to use his life so as to obtain a happy life
-hereafter. He was so humble that he conversed with mean and ragged
-persons: whence Timon thus:
-
-    "And for companions, gets of servants store,
-     Of all men the most empty and most poor."
-
-He was patient, and frugal in his household expenses; Laertius
-saith, he had but one servant; Seneca avers he had none. He was mean
-in his clothes: in his diet, by Philemon thus described:
-
-    "He water drinks, then broth and herbs doth eat;
-     Teaching his scholars, almost without meat."
-
-His chastity was so eminent, that it became a proverb; "As chaste as
-Zeno." When the news of his death came to Antigonus, he broke forth
-into these words, "What an object have I lost!" And being asked, why
-he admired him so much? "Because," saith he, "though I bestowed many
-great things upon him, he was never therewith exalted nor dejected."
-The Athenians, after his death, by a public decree, erected a statue
-to his memorial; it runs thus: "Whereas Zeno, the son of Mnaseas,
-a Cittian, has professed philosophy about fifty-eight years in
-this city, and in all things performed the office of a good man,
-encouraging those young men who applied themselves to him, to the
-love of virtue and temperance, leading himself a life suitable to
-the doctrine which he professed; a pattern to the best to imitate:
-the people have thought fit to do honour to Zeno, and to crown him
-with a crown of gold, according to law, in regard of his virtue and
-temperance, and to build a tomb for him, publicly, in the Ceramick,
-&c." These two were his epitaphs, one by Antipater:
-
-    "Here Zeno lies, who tall Olympus scal'd;
-     Not heaping Pelion on Ossa's head;
-     Nor by Herculean labours so prevailed;
-     But found out virtue's paths, which thither led."
-
-The other by Xenodotus, the Stoic, thus:
-
-    "Zeno, thy years to hoary age were spent,
-     Not with vain riches, but with self-content."
-
-XXVII. Seneca, a great and excellent philosopher, who with Epictetus
-shall conclude the testimonies of the men of their character, hath
-so much to our purpose that his works are but a kind of continued
-evidence for us: he saith, "Nature was not so much an enemy, as
-to give an easy passage of life to all other creatures, and that
-man alone should not live without so many arts; she hath commanded
-us none of these things. We have made all things difficult to us,
-by disdaining things that are easy: houses, clothes, meats, and
-nourishment of bodies, and those things which are now the care of
-life, were easy to come by, freely gotten, and prepared with a
-light labour: for the measure of these things was necessity, not
-voluptuousness: but we have made them pernicious and admirable: they
-must be sought with art and skill. Nature sufficeth to that which
-she requireth.
-
-"Appetite hath revolted from nature, which continually inciteth
-itself, and increaseth with the ages, helping vice by wit. First
-it began to desire superfluous, then contrary things: last of all,
-it sold the mind to the body, and commanded it to serve the lusts
-thereof. All these arts, wherewith the city is continually set at
-work, and maketh such a stir, do center in the affairs of the body,
-to which all things were once performed as to a servant, but now are
-provided as for a lord: hence the shops of engravers, perfumers, &c.
-Hence, of those that teach effeminate motions of the body, and vain
-and wanton songs: for natural behaviour is despised, which completed
-desires with necessary help; now it is clownishness and ill-breeding
-to be contented with as much as is requisite. What shall I speak
-of rich marbles curiously wrought, wherewith temples and houses do
-shine? What of stately galleries and rich furniture? these are but
-the devices of most vile slaves; the inventions of men, not of wise
-men: for wisdom sits deeper; it is the mistress of the mind. Wilt
-thou know what things she hath found out, what she hath made? Not
-unseemly motions of the body, nor variable singing by trumpet or
-flute; nor yet weapons of wars, or fortifications: she endeavoureth
-profitable things; she favours peace, and calls all mankind to
-agreement: she leadeth to a blessed estate; she openeth the way to
-it, and shows what is evil from what is good, and chaseth vanity out
-of the mind. She giveth solid greatness, but debaseth that which is
-puffed up, and would be seen of men: she bringeth forth the image
-of God to be seen in the souls of men: and so from corporeal, she
-translateth into incorporeal things." Thus in the 90th epistle to
-Luculius. To Gallio, he writeth thus: "All men, brother Gallio, are
-desirous to live happy, yet blind to the means of that blessedness.
-As long as we wander hither and thither, and follow not our guide,
-but the dissonant clamour of those that call on us to undertake
-different ways, our short life is wearied and worn away amongst
-errors, although we labour to get us a good mind: there is nothing
-therefore to be more avoided, than following the multitude without
-examination, and believing anything without judging. Let us inquire,
-what is best done, not what is more usually done; and what planted
-us in the possession of eternal felicity; not what is ordinarily
-allowed of by the multitude, which is the worst interpreter of
-truth. I call the multitude, as well those that are clothed in
-white, as those in other colours: for I examine not the colours
-of the garments, wherewith their bodies are clothed: I trust not
-mine eyes to inform me what a man is; I have a better and truer
-light, whereby I can distinguish truth from falsehood. Let the
-soul find out the good of the soul; if once she may have leisure
-to withdraw into herself, Oh! how will she confess, I wish all I
-have done were undone; and all I have said, when I recollect it, I
-am ashamed of it, when I now hear the like in others. These things
-below, whereat we gaze, and whereat we stay, and which one man with
-admiration shows unto another, do outwardly shine, but are inwardly
-empty. Let us seek out somewhat that is good, not in appearance,
-but solid, united, and best, in that which least appears: let us
-discover this. Neither is it far from us: we shall find it if we
-seek it. For it is wisdom not to wander from that immortal nature,
-but to form ourselves according to his law and example. Blessed is
-the man who judgeth rightly: blessed is he who is contented with
-his present condition: and blessed is he who giveth ear to that
-immortal principle, in the government of his life." A whole volume
-of these excellent things hath he written. No wonder a man of his
-doctrine and life escaped not the cruelty of brutish Nero, under
-whom he suffered death; as also did the apostle Paul, with whom,
-it is said Seneca had conversed. When Nero's messenger brought
-him the news, that he was to die; with a composed and undaunted
-countenance he received the errand, and presently called for pen,
-ink, and paper, to write his last will and testament; which the
-captain refusing, he turned towards his friends, and took his leave
-thus: "Since, my loving friends, I cannot bequeath you any other
-thing in acknowledgment of what I owe you, I leave you at least the
-richest and best portion I have, that is the image of my manners
-and life, which doing, you will obtain true happiness." His friends
-showing great trouble for the loss of him; "Where," saith he, "are
-those memorable precepts of philosophy? And what is become of those
-provisions, which for so many years together we have laid up against
-the brunts and afflictions of Providence? Was Nero's cruelty unknown
-to us? What could we expect better at his hands, that killed his
-brother and murdered his mother, but that he would put also his
-tutor and governor to death?" Then turning to his wife Pompeia
-Paulina, a Roman lady, young and noble, besought her for the love
-she bore him and his philosophy, to suffer patiently his affliction:
-"For," saith he, "my hour is come wherein I must show, not only by
-discourse but by death, the fruit I have reaped by my meditations;
-I embrace it without grief, wherefore do not dishonour it with thy
-tears. Assuage thy sorrow, and comfort thyself in the knowledge thou
-hast had of me, and of my actions; and lead the rest of thy life
-with that honest industry thou hast addicted thyself unto." And
-dedicating his life to God, he expired.
-
-XXVIII. Epictetus, contemporary with Seneca, and an excellent man,
-thought no man worthy of the profession of philosophy, that was
-not purified from the errors of his nature. His morals were very
-excellent, which he comprised under these two words, _sustaining_,
-and _abstaining_; or _bearing_, and _forbearing_; to avoid evil,
-and patiently to suffer afflictions, which do certainly comprise
-the christian doctrine and life, and is the perfection of the
-best philosophy that was at any time taught by Egyptians, Greeks,
-or Romans, when it signified virtue, self-denial, and a life of
-religious solitude and contemplation.
-
-How little the Christians of the times are true philosophers, and
-how much more these philosophers were Christians, than they, let
-the righteous principle in every conscience judge. But is it not
-then intolerable, that they should be esteemed Christians, who are
-yet to learn to be good Heathens? That prate of grace and nature,
-and know neither? Who will presume to determine what is become of
-Heathens, and know not where they are themselves, nor mind what may
-become of them? That can run readily over a tedious list of famous
-personages, and calumniate such as will not, with them, celebrate
-their memories with extravagant and superfluous praises, whilst
-they make it laudable to act the contrary: and none so ready a
-way to become vile, as not to be vicious? A strange paradox, but
-too true; so blind, so stupified, so besotted, are the foolish
-sensualists of the world, under their great pretences to religion,
-faith, and worship. Ah! did they but know the peace, the joy,
-the unspeakable ravishments of soul, that inseparably attend the
-innocent, harmless, still, and retired life of Jesus? Did they but
-weigh within themselves, the authors of their vain delights and
-pastimes, the nature and disposition they are so grateful to, the
-dangerous consequence of exercising the mind and its affections
-below, and arresting and taking them up from their due attendance
-and obedience to the most holy voice crying in their consciences,
-"Repent, return, all is vanity, and vexation of spirit:" were but
-these things reflected upon; were the incessant wooings of Jesus,
-and his importunate knocks and entreaties, by his light and grace,
-at the door of their hearts, but kindly answered, and He admitted
-to take up his abode there: and lastly, were such resolved to give
-up to the instructions and holy guidance of his eternal Spirit, in
-all the humble, heavenly, and righteous conversation it requires,
-and of which He is become our Captain and example; then, O then,
-both root and branch of vanity, the nature that invented, and that
-which delights herself therein, with all the follies themselves,
-would be consumed and vanish. But they, alas! cheat themselves by
-misconstrued Scriptures, and daub with the untempered mortar of
-misapplied promises. They will be saints whilst they are sinners;
-and in Christ, whilst in the spirit of the world, walking after
-the flesh, and not after the Spirit, by which the true children of
-God are led. My friends, mind the just witness and holy principle
-in yourselves, that you may experimentally know more of the Divine
-life, in which, and not in a multitude of vain repetitions, true and
-solid felicity eternally consists.
-
-IV. _Nor is this reputation, wisdom, and virtue, only to be
-attributed to men: there were women also in the Greek and Roman
-ages, that honoured their sex, by great examples of meekness,
-prudence, and chastity; and which I do the rather mention, that
-the honour, story yields to their virtuous conduct, may raise an
-allowable emulation in those of their own sex, at least, to equal
-the noble character given them by antiquity, viz._
-
-     1. Penelope.--2. Hipparchia.--3. Cornelia.--4. Pompeia
-     Plautina.--5. Plotina.--6. A reproof to voluptuous women of the
-     times.
-
-I. Penelope, wife to Ulysses, a woman eminent for her beauty and
-quality, but more for her singular chastity. Her husband was absent
-from her twenty years, partly in the service of his country, and
-partly in exile; and being believed to be dead, she was earnestly
-sought by divers lovers, and pressed by her parents to change her
-condition; but all the importunities of the one, or persuasions
-of the other, not prevailing, her lovers seemed to use a kind of
-violence, that where they could not entice, they would compel: to
-which she yielded, upon this condition, that they would not press
-her to marry, till she had ended the work she had in hand: which
-they granting, "she undid by night what she wrought by day;" and
-with that honest device she delayed their desire, till her husband
-returned, whom she received, though in beggar's clothes, with a
-heart full of love and truth. A constancy that reproaches too
-many of the women of the times. Her work shows the industry and
-employment, even of the women of great quality in those times;
-whilst those of the present age despise such honest labour as mean
-and mechanical.
-
-II. Hipparchia, a fair Macedonian virgin, noble of blood, as they
-term it, but more truly noble of mind, I cannot omit to mention:
-who entertained so earnest an affection for Crates, the Cynical
-philosopher, as well for his severe life as excellent discourse,
-that by no means could her relations, nor suitors, by all their
-wealth, nobility, and beauty, dissuade her from being his companion.
-Upon which strange resolution, they all betook themselves to Crates,
-beseeching him to show himself a true philosopher, in persuading
-her to desist: which he strongly endeavoured by many arguments; but
-not prevailing, went his way, and brought all the little furniture
-of his house, and showed her: "This," saith he, "is thy husband;
-that, the furniture of thy house: consider on it, for thou canst not
-be mine, unless thou followest the same course of life:" for being
-rich above twenty talents, which is more than £50,000, he neglected
-all to follow a retired life: all which had so contrary an effect,
-that she immediately went to him, before them all, and said, "I
-seek not the pomp and effeminacy of this world, but knowledge and
-virtue, Crates; and choose a life of temperance, before a life of
-delicacies; for true satisfaction, thou knowest, is in the mind;
-and that pleasure is only worth seeking, that lasts for ever."
-Thus was it she became the constant companion both of his love and
-life, his friendship and his virtues; travelling with him from
-place to place, and performing the public exercises of instruction
-with Crates, wherever they came. She was a most violent enemy to
-all impiety, but especially to wanton men and women, and those
-whose garb and conversation showed them devoted to vain pleasures
-and pastimes; effeminacy rendering the like persons not only
-unprofitable, but pernicious to the whole world. Which she as well
-made good by the example of her exceeding industry, temperance, and
-severity, as those are wont to do by their intemperance and folly:
-for ruin of health, estates, virtue, and loss of eternal happiness,
-have ever attended, and ever will attend, such earthly minds.
-
-III. Cornelia, also a noble Roman matron, and sister to Scipio, was
-esteemed the most famous and honourable personage of her time, not
-more for the greatness of her birth, than her exceeding temperance.
-And history particularly mentions this, as one great instance of her
-virtue, for which she was so much admired, to wit, that she never
-was accustomed to wear rich apparel, but such apparel as was very
-plain and grave; rather making her children, whom her instructions
-and example had made virtuous, her greatest ornament: a good pattern
-for the vain and wanton dames of the age.
-
-IV. Pompeia Plautina, wife to Julianus the emperor, commended for
-her compassion to the poor, used the power her virtue had given her
-with her husband, to put him upon all the just and tender things
-that became his charge, and to dissuade him from whatsoever seemed
-harsh to the people: particularly she diverted him from a great tax
-his flatterers advised him to lay upon the people.
-
-V. Plotina, the wife of Trajan, "a woman," saith a certain author,
-"adorned with piety, chastity, and all the virtues that a woman is
-capable of." There are two instances; one of her piety, the other
-of her chastity; the first is this: when her husband was proclaimed
-emperor, she mounted the capitol after the choice, where, in a
-religious manner, she said, "Oh, that I may live under all this
-honour, with the same virtue and content, that I enjoyed before I
-had it." The second is this: her husband being once exiled, she
-caused her hair to be cut short, as the men wore it, that with less
-notice and danger she might be the companion of his banishment.
-
-VI. Thus may the voluptuous women of the times read their reproof in
-the character of a brave Heathen, and learn, that solid happiness
-consists in a neglect of wealth and greatness, and a contempt of all
-corporeal pleasures, as more befitting beasts than immortal spirits:
-and which are loved by none but such, as not knowing the excellency
-of heavenly things, are both inventing and delighting, like brutes,
-in that which perisheth: giving the preference to poor mortality,
-and spending their lives to gratify the lusts of a little dirty
-flesh and blood, that shall never enter into the kingdom of heaven;
-by all which their minds become darkened, and so insensible of more
-celestial glories, that they do not only refuse to inquire after
-them, but infamously scoff and despise those that do, as a foolish
-and mad people: to that strange degree of darkness and impudence
-this age has got. But if the exceeding temperance, chastity, virtue,
-industry, and contentedness of very Heathens, with the plain and
-necessary enjoyments God has been pleased to vouchsafe to the sons
-and daughters of men, as sufficient to their wants and conveniency,
-that they may be the more at leisure to answer the great end of
-their being born, will not suffice, but that they will exceed the
-bounds, precepts, and examples, both of Heathens and Christians;
-anguish and tribulation will overtake them, when they shall have an
-eternity to think upon, with gnashing teeth, what to all eternity
-they can never remedy; these dismal wages are decreed for them, who
-so far affront God, heaven, and eternal felicity, as to neglect
-their salvation from sin here and wrath to come, for the enjoyment
-of a few fading pleasures. For such to think, notwithstanding their
-lives of sense and pleasure, wherein their minds become slaves to
-their bodies, that they shall be everlastingly happy, is an addition
-to their evils: since it is a great abuse to the holy God, that men
-and women should believe Him an eternal companion for their carnal
-and sensual minds: for "As the tree falls, so it lies; and as death
-leaves men, judgment finds them;" and there is no repentance in the
-grave. Therefore, I beseech you, to whom this comes, to retire:
-withdraw a while: let not the body see all, taste all, enjoy all;
-but let the soul see too, taste and enjoy those heavenly comforts
-and refreshments proper to that eternal world, of which she is an
-inhabitant, and where she must ever abide in a state of peace or
-plagues, when this visible one shall be dissolved.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XX.
-
-     _The doctrine and practice of the blessed Lord Jesus, and his
-     Apostles; the primitive Christians, and those of more modern
-     times, in favour of this discourse._
-
-     1. The Doctrine of Christ, from Mat. v. about denial of
-     self.--2. John the Baptist's example.--3. The testimonies of
-     the apostle Peter, &c.--4. Paul's godly exhortation against
-     pride, covetousness, and luxury.--5. The primitive Christians'
-     nonconformity to the world.--6. Clemens Romanus against
-     the vanity of the Gentiles.--7. Machiavel, of the zeal of
-     the primitive Christians.--8. Tertullian, Chrysostom, &c.
-     on Mat. xii. 36.--9. Gregory Nazianzen.--10. Ambrose.--11.
-     Augustine.--12. Council of Carthage.--13. Cardan.--14.
-     Gratian.--15. Waldenses.--16. What they understood by daily
-     bread in the Lord's Prayer.--17. Their judgment concerning
-     taverns.--18. Dancing, Music, &c.--19. An epistle of Bartholomew
-     Tertian to the Waldensian churches, &c.--20. Their extreme
-     suffering and faithfulness. Their degeneracy reproved, that call
-     them their ancestors.--21. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, relieving
-     slaves and prisoners.--22. Acacius, Bishop of Amida, his charity
-     to enemies.
-
-
-Having abundantly shown how much the doctrine and the conversation
-of the virtuous Gentiles condemn the pride, avarice, and luxury of
-the professed Christians of the times; I shall, in the next place,
-to discharge my engagement, and farther fortify this discourse,
-present my reader with the judgment and practice of the most
-christian times; as also of eminent writers, both ancient and
-modern. I shall begin with the blessed Author of that religion.
-
-I. Jesus Christ, in whose mouth there was found no guile, sent from
-God, with a testimony of love to mankind, and who laid down his
-life for their salvation; whom God hath raised by his mighty power
-to be Lord of all, is of right to be first heard in this matter;
-for never man spake like him to our point; shot, clear, and close;
-and all opposite to the way of this wicked world. "Blessed," says
-he, "are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God:"
-(Mat. v.:) He doth not say, blessed are the proud, the rich, the
-high-minded: here is humility and the fear of the Lord blest.
-"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted:" He doth
-not say, blessed are the feasters, dancers, and revellers of the
-world, whose life is swallowed up of pleasure and jollity: no; as
-He was a man of sorrows, so He blest the godly sorrowful. "Blessed
-are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth:" He doth not say,
-blessed are the ambitious, the angry, and those that are puffed up:
-He makes not the earth a blessing to them: and though they get it
-by conquest and rapine, it will at last fall into the hands of the
-weak to inherit. Again, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
-after righteousness:" but no blessing to the hunger and thirst of
-the luxurious man. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
-mercy:" He draws men to tenderness and forgiveness by reward. Hast
-thou one in thy power that hath wronged thee? Be not rigorous; exact
-not the utmost farthing; be merciful, and pity the afflicted, for
-such are blessed. Yet further, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for
-they shall see God." He doth not say, blessed are the proud, the
-covetous, the unclean, the voluptuous, the malicious: no; such shall
-never see God. Again, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall
-be called the children of God." He doth not say, blessed are the
-contentious, back-biters, tale-bearers, brawlers, fighters, makers
-of war; neither shall they be called the children of God, whatever
-they may call themselves. Lastly, "Blessed are ye when men shall
-revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against
-you, falsely for my sake: rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great
-is your reward in heaven." He blesseth the troubles of his people,
-and translates earthly sufferings into heavenly rewards. He doth not
-say, blessed are you when the world speaks well of you, and fawns
-upon you: so that his blessings cross the world's. For the world
-blesseth those as happy, that have the world's favour; He blesseth
-those as happy that have the world's frowns. This solveth the great
-objection, Why are you so foolish to expose yourselves to the law,
-to incur the displeasure of magistrates, and suffer the loss of
-your estates and liberties? Cannot a man serve God in his heart,
-and do as others do? Are you wiser than your forefathers? Call to
-mind your ancestors. Will you question their salvation by your
-novelties, and forget the future good of your wife and children,
-as well as sacrifice the present comforts of your life, to hold up
-the credit of a party? A language I have more than once heard: I
-say, this doctrine of Christ is an answer and antidote against the
-power of this objection. He teaches us to embrace truth under all
-those scandals. The Jews had more to say of this kind than any,
-whose way had a more extraordinary institution; but Christ minds
-not either institution or succession. He was a new man, and came to
-consecrate a new way, and that in the will of God; and the power
-that accompanied his ministry, and that of his followers, abundantly
-proved the Divine authority of his mission, who thereby warns his to
-expect and to bear contradiction, reviling, and persecution: for if
-they did it to the green tree, much more were they to expect that
-they would do it to the dry; if to the Lord, then to the servant.
-
-Why then should Christians fear that reproach and tribulation, that
-are the companions of his religion, since they work to his sincere
-followers a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory? But
-indeed they have great cause to fear and be ashamed, who are the
-authors of such reproach and suffering, so contrary to the meek
-and merciful spirit of Christ: for if they are blessed, who are
-reviled and persecuted for his sake, the revilers and persecutors
-must be cursed. But this is not all: He bids his disciples follow
-Him, learn of Him, for He was meek and lowly: He taught them to
-bear injuries, and not smite again; to exceed in kindness: to go
-two miles when asked to go one; to part with cloak and coat too;
-to give to them that ask, and to lend to them that would borrow;
-to forgive, aye, and love enemies too; commanding them, saying,
-"Bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you; and pray
-for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." (Mat. v.)
-Urging them with a most sensible demonstration, "That," saith He,
-"ye may be the children of your Father, which is in heaven: for He
-maketh his sun to rise upon the good and the evil, and his rain to
-descend upon the just and the unjust. He also taught his disciples
-to believe and rely upon God's providence, from the care that He
-had over the least of his creatures: "Therefore," saith He, "I say
-unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, and what
-ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on: is
-not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the
-fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather
-into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them; are ye not much
-better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit
-unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the
-lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they
-spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory
-was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the
-grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into
-the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
-Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall
-we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these
-things do the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that
-ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of
-God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added
-unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow
-shall take thought for the things of itself: sufficient unto the
-day is the evil thereof." (Mat. vi.) Oh! how plain, how sweet, how
-full, yet how brief are his blessed sentences! They thereby show
-from whence they came, and that Divinity itself spoke them: what
-are laboured, what are forced and scattered in the best of other
-writers, and not all neither, is here comprised after a natural,
-easy, and conspicuous manner. He sets nature above art, and trust
-above care. This is He that himself came poor into the world, and so
-lived in it: He lay in a manger, conversed with mechanics; fasted
-much, retired often: and when He feasted, it was with barley loaves
-and fish, dressed doubtless in an easy and homely manner. He was
-solitary in his life, in his death ignominious. The foxes had holes,
-the birds of the air had nests, but the Son of Man had not a place
-whereon to lay his head. He that made all things as God, had nothing
-as man; which hath this blessed instruction in it, that the meanest
-and poorest should not be dejected, nor yet the richest and highest
-be exalted. In fine, having taught this doctrine, and lived as He
-spoke, He died to confirm it, and offered up Himself a propitiation
-for the sins of the whole world, when no other sacrifice could be
-found, that could atone for man with God, who, rising above the
-power of death and the grave, hath led captivity captive, and is
-become the first-born from the dead, and Lord of the living; and his
-living people praise Him, who is worthy for ever.
-
-II. John the Baptist, who was the fore-runner of Christ's
-appearance in the flesh, did by his own abstinence sufficiently
-declare what sort of person it was he came to prepare and bespeak
-people to receive. For, though sanctified from his birth and
-declared by Christ to be the greatest of all prophets; yet his
-clothing was but a coarse garment of camel's hair, and a leathern
-girdle; and his food, only locusts and wild honey: a life very
-natural, and of great simplicity. This was all the pomp and retinue,
-which the greatest ambassador that ever came to the world was
-attended with; about the best of messages, to wit, Repent, for the
-kingdom of God is at hand: and, there is one coming after me, whose
-shoes-latchet I am not worthy to unloose, who shall baptize you
-with fire, and with the Holy Ghost; and is the Lamb of God that
-taketh away the sin of the world. (Mat. iii. 11; John, i. 29.) Did
-the fore-runner of the coming of God, for Immanuel is God with men,
-appear without the state, grandeur, and luxury of the world; and
-shall those who pretend to receive the message, and that for glad
-tidings too, and confess the Immanuel, Jesus Christ, to be the Lord,
-live in the vanity and excess of the world, and care more for their
-fine clothes, delicate dishes, rich furniture, stately attendance,
-and pleasant diversion, than for the holy cross of Christ, and
-blessed narrow way that leadeth to salvation. Be ashamed, and repent!
-
-III. PETER, ANDREW, PHILIP, and the rest of the holy apostles, were,
-by calling as well as doctrine, not a luxurious people; for they
-were made up of poor fishermen and mechanics; for Christ called not
-his disciples out of the higher ranks of men, nor had they ability
-any more than will to use the excesses herein reproved. You may
-conceive what their lives were, by what their Master's doctrine was;
-for they were the true scholars of his heavenly discipline. Peter
-thus speaks, and exhorteth the Christians of his time, "Let not your
-adorning be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and the
-wearing of gold, and of putting on of apparel; but let it be the
-hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the
-ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God
-of great price; for after this manner, in the old time, the holy
-women, who also trusted in God, adorned themselves." (1 Pet. iii. 3,
-4.) Wherefore gird up the loins of your minds, be sober and hope to
-the end, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according
-to your former lusts, in your ignorance, but as He which hath
-called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation:
-(1 Pet. i. 13-15:) and giving all diligence, add to your faith,
-virtue; to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to
-temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness,
-brotherly-kindness; and to brotherly-kindness, charity; for if
-these things be in you and abound, they make you, that you shall
-be neither barren nor unfruitful: for so an entrance shall be
-ministered unto you abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our
-Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; (2 Pet. i. 5-8, 11;) not rendering
-evil for evil, or railing for railing; but contrariwise, blessing;
-knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye shall inherit a
-blessing: (1 Pet. iii. 9:) for even hereunto were ye called,
-because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye
-should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found
-in his mouth; who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when
-He suffered, He threatened not, but committed himself to Him that
-judgeth righteously. (1 Pet. ii. 21-23.)
-
-IV. Paul, who was also an apostle, though, as he saith, born out
-of due time: a man of great knowledge and learning, but, "I count
-it," saith he, "all loss for the excellency of the knowledge
-of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of
-all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.
-Brethren, be followers of me, and mark them which walk so, as ye
-have us for an ensample: for many walk, of whom I have told you
-often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of
-the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction; whose god is their
-belly; they glory in their shame, and they mind earthly things. For
-our conversation is in heaven; from whence we look also for the
-Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Phil. iii. 8, 18.) In like manner
-also, "I will that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with
-shame-facedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair, or gold, or
-pearls, or costly array; but with good works, as becometh women
-professing godliness." (1 Tim. ii. 9, 10.) "Be followers of God,
-as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us:
-but fornication, and all uncleanness, and covetousness, let it not
-be once named amongst you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness
-nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient; but
-rather giving of thanks: for this ye know, that no whoremonger,
-unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any
-inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, and of God. See, then, that
-you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the
-time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but
-understanding what the will of the Lord is; and be not drunk with
-wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking
-to yourselves in hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making
-melody in your hearts to the Lord." (Ephes. v.) "Rejoice in the Lord
-always; and again, I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known to
-all men, for the Lord is at hand." (Phil. iv. 4-6.) "Be careful for
-nothing, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain
-we can carry nothing out: and, having food and raiment, let us be
-therewith content; for godliness, with contentment, is great gain:
-but they that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and
-into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition
-and destruction; for the love of money is the root of all evil,
-which whilst some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
-pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of
-God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness,
-faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith,
-and lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and
-hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee
-charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before
-Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession,
-that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until
-the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Charge them that are rich
-in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain
-riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to
-enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready
-to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for
-themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may
-lay hold on eternal life. O Timothy, keep that which is committed
-to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions
-of science, falsely so called, which some professing, have erred
-concerning the faith. Grace be with thee, Amen." (1 Tim. vi. 7, to
-the end.) This was the blessed doctrine these messengers of eternal
-life declared, and what is more, they lived as they spoke. You find
-an account of their reception in the world, and the way of their
-living, in his first epistle to the Corinthians; "For I think,"
-saith he, "that God hath set forth us, the apostles last, as it
-were, appointed to death; for we are made a spectacle to the world,
-to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake: we are weak,
-we are despised: even unto this present hour we both hunger and
-thirst, and have no certain dwelling-place, and labour, working
-with our hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted we suffer
-it; being defamed, we intreat. We are made as the filth of the
-world, and are as the off-scouring of all things unto this day." (1
-Cor. iv. 9.) This was the entertainment those faithful followers of
-Jesus received at the hands of an ungrateful world; but he who tells
-us of this, also tells us, it is no unusual thing: "For," saith he,
-"such as will live godly in Christ Jesus, must suffer persecution."
-Besides, he knew it had been the portion of the righteous in
-preceding ages, as in his excellent account of the faith, trials,
-and victory of the holy ancients, in his epistle to the Hebrews
-he does largely express, where he tells us, how great a sojourner
-Abraham was, even in the land of promise, a stranger in his own
-country, for God had given it unto him and his posterity, dwelling,
-saith he, in tents with Isaac and Jacob. And why not better settled?
-Was it for want of understanding, or ability, or materials? No; he
-gives a better reason; for, saith he, Abraham looked for a city
-which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And speaking
-of Moses, he tells us, "that, by faith, when he was come to years of
-discretion, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
-choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than
-to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach
-of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had
-respect unto the recompense of reward; nor feared he the wrath of
-the king, for he endured, seeing him who is invisible." He adds,
-"And others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings; yea,
-moreover of bonds and imprisonments; they were stoned, they were
-sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered
-about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted,
-tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in
-deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and caves of the earth, and
-these all have obtained a good report." Methinks this should a
-little abate the intemperance of professed Christians. I do not bid
-them be thus miserable, but I would not have them make themselves so
-hereafter; for this afflicted life hath joys transcending the utmost
-pleasure that sin can give, and in the end it will be found, that it
-were better to be a poor pilgrim, than a citizen of the world. Nor
-was this only the life and instruction of apostolical teachers; the
-same plainness and simplicity of life was also followed by the first
-Christians.
-
-V. "The primitive Christians,"[46] Ouzelius, in his animadversions
-on Minutius Felix, saith, "were reproached by the Gentiles for their
-ill-breeding, rude and unpolished language, unfashionable behaviour,
-as a people that knew not how to carry themselves in their addresses
-and salutations, calling them rustics and clowns, which the
-Christians easily bore, valuing their profession the more for its
-nonconformity to the world: wherefore it was usual with them, by
-way of irony and contempt, to call the Gentiles, the well-bred, the
-eloquent, and the learned." This he proves by ample testimonies out
-of Arnobius, Lactantius, Isidorus Pelusiota, Theodoret, and others.
-Which may instruct us, that the Christians' behaviour was not
-regulated by the customs of the country they lived in, as is usually
-objected against our singularity: no, they refused the embellishment
-of art, and would not wear the furniture of her invention, but
-as they were singular in their religion, so in the way of their
-conversation among men.
-
-  [46] Animad. in Min. Fel. p. 25.
-
-VI. Clement Romanus,[47] if author of the constitutions that
-go under his name, hath this among the rest, "Abstain from the
-vain books of the Gentiles. What have you to do with strange and
-unprofitable discourses, which only serve to seduce weak persons?"
-This Clement is remembered by Paul in one of his epistles, (Phil.
-iv. 3,) who in this exactly follows his advice to Timothy, about
-vain questions, doubtful disputes, and opposition of science. Let us
-see how this moderation and purity of manners continued.
-
-  [47] Constit. Clem Rom. l. 1, chap. 2.
-
-VII. Machiavel,[48] no mean author, in his Disputations, assures
-us, "That the first promoters of Christianity were so diligent in
-rooting out the vanities and superstitions of the Gentiles, that
-they commanded all such poets' and historians' books, who commended
-anything of the Gentile conversation or worship, to be burned;" but
-that zeal is evidently extinguished, and those follies revived among
-the professors of the religion of Jesus.
-
-  [48] Mach. Dis. l. 2, chap. 5.
-
-VIII. Tertullian,[49] Chrysostom, Theophylact, Gregory Nazianzene,
-upon these words of Christ, "But I say unto you, that every idle
-word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the
-day of judgment:" (Mat. xii. 36:) thus reflect upon vain discourse:
-"These words mean," saith Tertullian, "of all vain and superfluous
-speech, more talk than is necessary." Says Chrysostom, "of such
-words as are not convenient or profitable, but move immodestly."
-Says Theophylact, "of all lies, calumnies, all inordinate and
-ridiculous speeches." Says Gregory, "such words men shall account
-for, which want that profit ever redounding from modest discourses,
-and that are seldom uttered from any preceding necessity or cause;
-things frivolous, fables, old wives' tales." All which sufficiently
-reprehend the plays, poetry, and romances of the times, of great
-folly, vanity, and sin.
-
-  [49] Tert. lib. de Patien. Chrysost.
-
-IX. Gregory, and this a father of the church, a very extraordinary
-man, was so zealous for the simplicity and purity of the mind,
-language, and lives of the Christians of his time, that he
-suppressed several Greek authors, as Menander, Diphilus,
-Apollodorus, Philemon, Alexis, Sappho, and others, which were the
-recreations of the vain Gentiles: thus Cardan. Hear his judgment of
-fine clothes, none of the least part of the luxury and vanity of the
-age. "There be some," saith he, "are of opinion, that the wearing
-of precious and sumptuous apparel is no sin; which if it were no
-fault, the Divine word would never have so punctually expressed,
-nor historically related, how the rich man, that was tormented in
-hell, was clothed in purple and silk: whence we may note, that,
-touching the matter or subject of attire, human curiosity availeth
-highly. The first substance of our garments was very mean, to wit,
-skins, with wool; when it is we read, God made Adam and his wife
-coats of skins; that is, of skins of dead beasts. Afterwards, to see
-the growing pride and vanity of men and women, they came to pure
-wool, because lighter; after that to flax: then to dung and ordure
-of worms, to wit, silk; lastly, to gold and silver, and precious
-stones, which excess of apparel highly displeased God: for instance
-whereof, which the very Pagans themselves observed, we read that the
-very first among the Romans that ever wore purple was struck with a
-thunder-bolt, and so died suddenly for a terror to all succeeding
-times, that none should attempt to live proudly in precious attire."
-This was the sense of Gregory Nazianzene, that ancient Christian
-writer, who wore commonly a poor coat, like to a frock; so did
-Justin Martyr, Jerome, and Austin, as their best robe.
-
-X. Ambrose, called a father, who was lieutenant to the province
-and city of Milan, and upon his discreet appeasing the multitude,
-disordered upon some difference amongst them about electing a
-bishop, was by their uniform consent chosen himself: although this
-person, of all others, might have been thought to plead for the
-accustomed recreations, especially not having been long a Christian,
-for he was a Catechumen, or one but lately instructed, at the time
-of his being elected; yet doth he in so many words determine the
-matter thus: "Plays ought not to be known by Christians;" then not
-made, heard, and defended by Christians; or they must be none that
-do so.
-
-XI. Augustine,[50] more famous for his many books, and knowledge in
-church affairs, whose sentences are oracles with some, gives this as
-his opinion of plays, and the like recreations, that they were more
-pernicious and abominable than those idolatrous sacrifices, which
-were offered in honour of the pagan gods. Doubtless he thought the
-one not so offensive to reason and the impressions divinity hath
-made on every understanding, as the other were very pleasant to the
-senses, and therefore apt to steal away the mind from better things;
-for it was his maxim,[51] that everything a man doth, is either a
-hindrance or furtherance to good. This would be esteemed intolerable
-doctrine in a poor Quaker, yet will the Quaker rejoice, if it be
-esteemed and followed as good doctrine in Augustine.
-
-  [50] August. de Civit. Dei. l. ii. c. 7.
-
-  [51] De ira Dei. l. 9, c. 7.
-
-XII. The council of Carthage, though times began to look somewhat
-mistier, and the purity and spirituality of religion to be much
-declined by the professors of Christianity; yet there was so much
-zeal left against the worst part of Heathenism, that I find an
-express canon against the reading of vain books and comedies of the
-Gentiles, lest the minds of the people should be defiled by them.
-But this age either hath no such canon, or executeth it not, to the
-shame of their profession.
-
-XIII. Cardan more particularly relateth,[52] how even Gregory
-the Great was so zealous of preserving purity of manners among
-Christians, who lived almost two hundred years after the
-Carthaginian council, that he caused many Latin authors to be
-burned, as vain and lascivious; as Cæcilianus, Affranius, Navius,
-Licinus, Ennius, Attilius, Victor, Lucian's Dialogues; nor did
-Plautus, Martial, and Terence, so much in request both in the
-schools and academies of the land, escape their honest zeal,
-although the multitude of copies so far frustrated their good
-intentions, as that they are multiplied of late.
-
-  [52] Cardan de Sapient. l. 2.
-
-XIV. Gratian also[53] had such like passages as these, "We see that
-the priests of the Lord, neglecting the gospel and the prophets,
-read comedies or play-books, and sing love verses, and read Virgil,"
-a book in which are some good expressions. Strange! that these
-things should have been so sincerely censured of old, and that
-persons whose names are had in so much reverence, should repute
-these their censures the constructions of Christ's precepts, and the
-natural consequences of the Christian doctrine; and yet that they
-should be so far neglected of this age, as not to be judged worthy
-an imitation. But pray let us hear what doctrine the Waldenses teach
-in this affair.
-
-  [53] Jac. Laurentio de lib. Gentil. p. 40, 41.
-
-XV. The Waldenses[54] were a people so called from one Peter Waldo,
-a citizen of Lyons in France, in the year 1160, who inhabited
-Piedmont, elsewhere called Albigenses, from Albi, a city of
-Languedoc in France; Lollards in England, from one Reynard Lollard,
-who some time after came into these parts, and preached boldly
-against the idolatries, superstitions, and vain conversation
-of the inhabitants of this island. They had many other names,
-as Arnoldists, Esperonists, Henricians, Siccars, Insabaches,
-Paterenians, Turlupins, Lyonists, Fraticelli, Hussites, Bohemians
-(still the same;) but finally, by their enemies, damnable heretics,
-though by the Protestants, the true church of Christ. And to omit
-many testimonies, I will instance only in Bishop Usher, who in
-his discourse of the succession of the Christian church, defends
-them not only as true reformers, but makes the succession of the
-Protestant church to be mainly evincible from their antiquity. I
-shall forbear all the circumstances and principles they held, or in
-which he strongly defends them against the cruelty and ignorance
-of their adversaries, particularly Rainerius, Rubis, Capetaneis,
-&c. only what they held concerning our present subject of apparel
-and recreations, I cannot be so injurious to the truth, their
-self-denial, the good of others, at whose reformation I aim, and
-my own discourse, as to omit it. And therefore I shall proceed to
-allege their faith and practice in these matters, however esteemed
-but of a trifling importance, by the loose, wanton, and carnal
-minded of this generation, whose feeling is lost by the enjoyment
-of their inordinate desires, and that think it a high state of
-Christianity to be no better than the beasts that perish, namely,
-in not being excessive in Newgate and mere kennel enormities. That
-these ancient reformers had another sense of these things, and that
-they made the conversation of the gospel of a crucified Jesus to
-intend and require another sort of life, than what is used by almost
-all those who account themselves members of his church, I shall
-show out of their own doctrines, as found in their most authentic
-histories.
-
-  [54] XII. Cap. Hist. de orig. Walden. Vignia Hist. Bibl. p. 130.
-  Dubran Hist. Bohem. 14. Thuan. in Hist. sui. temp. p. 458. Mat.
-  Paris Hist. of Eng. Angl. 1174; Bellar. tom. 2, lib. 1, cap. 26, co.
-  86. Ecchius. com. loc. c. 28. Apl. l. 6. con. Hieret. p. 99.
-
-XVI. To be brief, in their exposition upon the Lord's prayer,
-that part of it which speaks thus, "Give us this day our daily
-bread:"[55] where, next to that spiritual bread, which they
-make it to be the duty of all to seek more than life, they come
-positively to deny the praying for more than is requisite for
-outward necessities, or that it is lawful to use more; condemning
-all superfluity and excess, out of fashion, pride, or wantonness,
-not only of bread, but all outward things, which they judge to be
-thereby comprehended; using Ezekiel's words,[56] (Ezek. xvi. 45,)
-that fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness were the cause
-of the wickedness and the abominations of Sodom, for which God by
-fire destroyed them off the earth. Whereupon they conclude with an
-ancient father of the primitive church, after this manner, that
-costly apparel, superfluity in diet, as three dishes when one will
-serve, play, idleness, and sleep, fatten the body, nourish luxury,
-weaken the spirit, and lead the soul unto death; "But," say they,
-"a spare diet, labour, short sleep, plain and mean garments, help
-to purify the soul, tame the body, mortify the lusts of the flesh,
-and comfort the spirit." So severe were they, that, in the chapter
-of the instructions of their children,[57] they would not suffer
-them to converse with those of strange places or principles, whose
-conversation was gaming, plays, and the like wanton recreations; but
-especially concerning young women. "A man," say they, "must have a
-great care of his daughter. Hast thou daughters? Keep them within to
-wholesome things; see they wander not; for Dinah, Jacob's daughter,
-was corrupted by being seen of strangers." They affirm no better to
-be the general event of such conversation.
-
-  [55] Jo. Paul. Per. Hist. Wald. l. 1. in p. 37, 38. Dona nos le
-  nostre pan quotidian. en choi. Memor. Morrel. Vign. Mem. f. 7.
-
-  [56] Thesaur. fed. Ap. Wald.
-
-  [57] Thesaur. fed. Ap. Wald. l. 2, c. 3. Lifill. sign. nassion ali
-  patrons carnals de non esser rendus, &c.
-
-To which I shall add their judgment and practice concerning
-taverns,[58] public houses for treats and pleasures, with which the
-land swarms in our days.
-
-  [58] Ibid. l. 2, c. 3.
-
-XVII. "A tavern is the fountain of sin,[59] the school of the
-devil; it works wonders fitting the place. It is the custom of God
-to show his power in his church, and to work miracles; that is to
-say, to give sight to the spiritually blind, to make the lame to
-leap, the dumb to sing, the deaf to hear: but the devil doth quite
-contrary to all these in taverns, and the like places of pleasure.
-For when the drunkard goes to the tavern, he goes upright: but when
-he comes forth, he cannot go at all; he has lost his sight, speech,
-and hearing too." "The lectures that are read in this school of
-the devil," say these poor Waldenses, and first reformers, "are
-gluttonies, oaths, perjuries, lyings, blasphemies, flatteries, and
-divers other wicked villanies and pernicious effects, by which the
-heart is withdrawn further and further from God." And, as the book
-of Ecclesiasticus saith, the taverner shall not be freed from sin.
-
-  [59] La taverna de maisons de pleisirs es fontana de pecca e schola
-  del diavolo, &c.
-
-But above other recreations, do but seriously observe, of what
-danger and ill consequence these first reformers thought dancing,
-music, and the like pastimes to be, which are the greatest
-divertisements of the times, viz.:
-
-XVIII. "Dancing is the devil's procession,[60] and he that entereth
-into a dance entereth into his procession, the devil is the guide,
-the middle, and the end of the dance; as many paces as man maketh
-in dancing, so many paces doth he make to go to hell.[61] A man
-sinneth in dancing divers ways, for all his steps are numbered, in
-his touch, in his ornaments, in his hearing, sight, speech, and
-other vanities. And therefore we will prove, first by the Scripture,
-and afterwards by divers other reasons, how wicked a thing it is to
-dance. The first testimony that we will produce is that which we
-read in the gospel, where it is said, it pleased Herod so well,
-that it cost John Baptist his life. (Mark, vi. 22-28; Exodus,
-xxxii. 4-7, 19.) The second is in Exodus, when Moses, coming near
-to the congregation, saw the calf, he cast the tables from him,
-and broke them at the foot of the mountain; and afterwards it cost
-three thousand of their lives. Besides, the ornaments which women
-wear in their dances, are as crowns for many victories which the
-devil hath got against the children of God: for the devil hath not
-only one sword in the dance, but as many as there are beautiful and
-well-adorned persons in the dance; for the words of a woman are a
-glittering sword. And therefore that place is much to be feared
-wherein the enemy hath so many swords, since that only one sword of
-his may be justly feared. Again, the devil in this place strikes
-with a sharpened sword; for women, who make it acceptable, come
-not willingly to the dance, if they be not painted and adorned;
-which painting and ornament is as a whetstone on which the devil
-sharpeneth his sword.--They that deck and adorn their daughters,
-are like those that put dry wood to the fire, to the end it may
-burn the better: for such women kindle the fire of luxury in the
-hearts of men. As Sampson's foxes fired the Philistines' corn, so
-these women, they have fire in their faces, and in their gestures
-and actions, their glances and wanton words, by which they consume
-the goods of men." They proceed, "The devil in the dance useth the
-strongest armour that he hath: for his most powerful arms are women;
-which is made plain unto us, in that the devil made choice of the
-woman to deceive the first man; so did Balaam, that the children of
-Israel might be rejected of God. By a woman he made Sampson, David,
-and Absalom to sin. The devil tempteth men by women three manner of
-ways; that is, by the touch, by the eye, by the ear; by these three
-means he tempteth foolish men to dancing, by touching their hands,
-beholding their beauty, hearing their songs and music."--Again,
-"They that dance break that promise and agreement they have made
-with God in baptism, when their godfathers promise for them, that
-they shall renounce the devil and all his pomp; for dancing is
-the pomp of the devil; and he that danceth maintaineth his pomp,
-and singeth his mass. For the woman that singeth in the dance is
-the prioress, or chief of the devil, and those that answer are
-the clerks, and the beholders are the parishioners, and the music
-are the bells, and the fiddlers the ministers of the devil. For,
-as when hogs are strayed, if the hogherd call one, all assemble
-themselves together; so the devil causeth one woman to sing in the
-dance, or to play on some instrument, and presently gather all
-the dancers together."--Again, "In a dance, a man breaks the ten
-commandments of God: as first, Thou shalt have no other God but
-me, &c., for in dancing, a man serves that person whom he most
-desires to serve, after whom goes his heart; and therefore Jerome
-saith, 'Every man's god is that he serves and loves best;'[62] and
-that he loves best which his thoughts wander and gad most after.
-He sins against the second commandment when he makes an idol of
-that he loves. Against the third, in that oaths, and frivolously
-using God's name, are frequently among dancers. Against the fourth,
-for that by dancing the sabbath-day is profaned. Against the
-fifth, for in the dance parents are many times dishonoured, since
-thereby many bargains are made without their counsel. Against
-the sixth, a man kills in dancing, for every one that sets about
-to please another, he kills the soul as oft as he persuades unto
-lust. Against the seventh, for the party that danceth, be it male
-or female, committeth adultery with the party they lust after;
-for he that looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath already
-committed adultery with her in his heart. Against the eighth, a
-man sins in dancing when he withdraweth the heart of another from
-God. Against the ninth, when in dancing he speaks falsely against
-the truth, and for some little honour, or secret lascivious end,
-denies what is true, or affirms what is false. Against the tenth,
-when women affect the ornaments of others, and men covet the wives,
-daughters, and servants of their neighbours, which undeniably
-attends all such plays and sports."--Again, "A man may prove how
-great an evil dancing is, by the multitude of sins that accompany
-those that dance; for they dance without measure or number;" "And
-therefore," saith Augustine,[63] "the miserable dancer knows not,
-that as many paces as he makes in dancing, so many leaps he makes
-to hell. They sin in their ornaments after a five-fold manner:
-First, by being proud thereof. Secondly, by inflaming the hearts
-of those that behold them. Thirdly, when they make those ashamed
-that have not the like ornaments, giving them occasion to covet the
-like. Fourthly, by making women importunate in demanding the like
-ornaments of their husbands: and, Fifthly, when they cannot obtain
-them of their husbands, they seek to get them elsewhere by sin.
-They sin by singing and playing on instruments; for their songs
-bewitch the hearts of those that hear them with temporal delight,
-forgetting God; uttering nothing in their songs but lies and
-vanities; and the very motion of the body which is used in dancing,
-gives testimony enough of evil.--Thus, you see that dancing is the
-devil's procession, and he that enters into a dance, enters into the
-devil's procession. Of dancing, the devil is the guide, the middle,
-and the end; and he that entereth a good and wise man into the
-dance, if it can be that such an one is either good or wise, cometh
-forth a corrupt and wicked man: Sarah, that holy woman, was none of
-these."[64] Behold the apprehensions of those good old reformers,
-touching those things that are so much in practice and reputation in
-these times, with such as profess their religion: thus far verbatim.
-But I cannot leave off here, till I have yet added the conclusion of
-their catechism and direction, and some passages out of one of their
-pastor's letters, fit to the present occasion.
-
-  [60] La bal es la proces. del diavol, e qui intra en la bal, &c.
-
-  [61] Sp. Alm. fol. 50-54.
-
-  [62] Jerom. in dec. int. oper.
-
-  [63] August. de Civit. Dei.
-
-  [64] August. l. 2.
-
-They conclude with this direction, namely, how to rule their
-bodies,[65] and live in this world as becomes the children of God.
-Not to serve the mortal desires of the flesh. To keep their members,
-that they be not arms of iniquity and vanity. To rule their outward
-senses. To subject the body to the soul. To mortify their members.
-To fly idleness. To observe a sobriety and measure in eating and
-drinking, in their words and cares of this life. To do works of
-mercy. To live a moral or just life by faith. To fight against the
-desires. To mortify the works of the flesh. To give themselves to
-the exercise of religion. To confer together touching the will of
-God: to examine diligently the conscience. To purge and amend, and
-pacify the spirit.
-
-  [65] Concl. p. 68. Encaren qual manier fidel debian regir li ler
-  Corps: non servali desirier mort. &c.
-
-To which I add the epistle of one of their pastors, as I find it
-recorded amongst other matters relating to these poor afflicted
-people.
-
-XIX. An epistle of pastor Bartholomew Tertian, written to the
-Waldensian churches of the valley of Pragela, thus translated:
-
-                       "JESUS BE WITH YOU.
-
-     "To all our faithful and well beloved brethren in christ jesus,[66]
-     health and salvation be with you all: amen! these are to put you
-     in remembrance, and to admonish you, my brethren, hereby acquitting
-     myself of that duty which i owe unto you all, in the behalf of god,
-     principally touching the care of your souls' salvation, according
-     to that light of the truth, which the most high god hath bestowed
-     on us, that it would please every one of you to maintain, increase,
-     and nourish, to the utmost of your power, without diminution, those
-     good beginnings and examples which have been left unto us by our
-     forefathers, whereof we are no ways worthy. for it would little
-     profit us to have been renewed by the fatherly visitation, and the
-     light which hath been given us of god, if we give ourselves to
-     worldly, carnal conversations, which are diabolical; abandoning the
-     principle which is of god, and the salvation of our souls, for this
-     short and temporal life. for the lord saith, 'what doth it profit
-     a man to gain the whole world, and to lose his own soul?' for it
-     would be better for us never to have known the way of righteousness,
-     than having known it, to do the contrary. let me therefore intreat
-     you, by the love of god, that you decrease not, or look back; but
-     rather increase the charity, fear, and obedience, which is due unto
-     god, and to yourselves, amongst yourselves; and stand fast in all
-     these good principles, which you have heard and understood of god,
-     by our means: and that you would remove from amongst you all vain
-     conversation and evil surmises, troubling the peace, the love,
-     the concord, and whatsoever would indispose or deaden your minds
-     to the service of god, your own salvation, and the administration
-     of the truth, if you desire that god should be merciful to you in
-     your goods temporal and spiritual: for you can do nothing without
-     him; and if you desire to be heirs of his glory, do that which he
-     commandeth: if you would enter into life, keep my commandments.
-     (matt. xix. 17.)
-
-       [66] hist. wald. l. 4, c. 11, p. 55-57.
-
-     "likewise be careful that there be not nourished among you any
-     sports, gluttony, whoredom, dancings, nor any lewdness, nor riot,
-     nor questions, nor deceits, nor usury, nor discords; nor support nor
-     entertain any persons of a wicked conversation, or that give any
-     scandal or ill example amongst you; but let charity and fidelity
-     reign amongst you, and all good example; doing to one another as
-     every one desires should be done unto him; for otherwise it is
-     impossible that any should be saved, or can have the grace of
-     god, or be good men in this world, or have glory in another. and
-     therefore, if you hope and desire to possess eternal life, to live
-     in esteem and credit, and to prosper in this world, in your goods
-     temporal and spiritual, purge yourselves from all disorderly ways,
-     to the end that god may be always with you, who forsakes not those
-     that trust in him. but know this for certain, that god heareth
-     not, nor dwelleth with sinners, nor in the soul that is given unto
-     wickedness, nor in the man that is subject to sin. and therefore let
-     every one cleanse the ways of his heart, and fly the danger, if he
-     would not perish therein. i have no other things at this present,
-     but that you would put in practice these things; and the god of
-     peace be with you all, and go along with us, and be present among
-     us in our sincere, humble, and fervent prayers, and that he will be
-     pleased to save all those his faithful, that trust in christ jesus.
-
-       "entirely yours, ready to do you service in all
-       things possible, according to the will of god.
-
-       "bartholomew tertian."
-
-XX. Behold the life and doctrine, instruction and practice, of the
-ancient Waldenses.[67] How harmless, how plain, how laborious, how
-exceeding serious and heavenly in their conversations! These were
-the men, women, aye children too, who, for above five hundred years,
-have valiantly, but passively maintained a cruel war, at the expense
-of their own innocent blood, against the unheard of cruelties and
-severities of several princes, nuncios, and bishops; but above all,
-of certain cruel inquisitors, of whom their historians report, that
-they held it was a greater evil to conceal a heretic than to be
-guilty of perjury; and for a clergyman to marry a wife than to keep
-a whore. In short, to dissent, though never so conscientiously, was
-worse than open immorality. It was against the like adversaries
-these poor Waldenses fought, by sufferings throughout the nations,
-by prisons, confiscations, banishments,[68] wandering from hill to
-valley, from den to cave; being mocked, whipped, racked, thrown
-from rocks and towers, driven on mountains,[69] and in one night
-thousands perished by excessive frost and snow, smothered in caves,
-starved, imprisoned, ripped up, hanged, dismembered, rifled,
-plundered, strangled, broiled, roasted, burned; and whatsoever could
-be invented to ruin men, women, and children. These Waldenses, you
-Protestants pretend to be your ancestors: from them, you say, you
-have your religion; and often, like the Jews of the prophets, are
-you building their praises in your discourses: but, O look back,
-I beseech you, how unlike are you to these afflicted pilgrims!
-What resemblance is there of their life in yours? Did they help to
-purchase and preserve you a liberty and religion, can you think, at
-the loss of all that was dear to them, that you might pass away your
-days and years in pride, wantonness, and vanity? What proportion
-bears your excess with their temperance;[70] your gaudiness with
-their plainness; your luxury and flesh-pleasing conversations with
-their simplicity and self-denial? But are you not got into that
-spirit and nature they condemned in their day; into that carnality
-and worldly mindedness they reproved in their persecutors, nay,
-into a strain of persecution too, which you seem to hide under a
-cloak of reformation? How can you hope to refute their persecutors
-whose worst part perhaps was their cruelty, that turn persecutors
-yourselves? What have you besides their good words, that is like
-them? And do you think that words will send off the blows of eternal
-vengeance? That a little by-rote babble, though of never so good
-expressions in themselves, shall serve your turn at the great day?
-No, from God I tell you, that whilst you live in the wantonness,
-pride, and luxury of the world, pleasing and fulfilling the lust
-of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, (1 John,
-ii. 14-17,) God detests you all, and laughs you and your worship
-to scorn. Never tell me, I am too rash; it is the devil that says
-so; he has got two scriptures by the end in these days: one, that
-there is none that doth good: and why?[71] That he may persuade all
-it is impossible to overcome him: which is the reason so many are
-overcome; although glory is promised to none but conquerors. The
-second, that we must not judge, lest we be judged: that is, whilst
-we are guilty of the same things that are equivalent, lest we are
-judged. But away with Satan and his hypocrisy too: I know what I
-say, and from whom I speak: once more I tell you all, whether you
-will hear or forbear, that unless you forsake your pride, luxury,
-avarice, and the whole variety of vanities, and diligently mind the
-eternal light of God in your hearts, to obey it; wrath will be your
-portion for ever. Trust not your souls upon misapplied Scriptures;
-he that is a child of God must be holy, for God is holy; and none
-are his sons and daughters but those who are adopted by the eternal
-Spirit, and led thereby. (1 Pet. i. 15, 16; Rom. viii. 1-16.) It was
-a holy, plain, humble, divine life, these poor suffering Christians
-both professed and practised, refusing to converse with such as
-lived in the superfluities and excess of the world; for which, if
-you will believe their very adversaries, they were persecuted:
-"For," says Rainerius,[72] a great writer against them, "they used
-to teach, first, what the disciples of Christ ought to be, and that
-none are his disciples but they that imitate his life; and that the
-popes, cardinals, &c., because they live in luxury, pride, avarice,
-&c., are not the successors of Christ; but themselves only, in that
-they walk up to his commandments; thus," says he, "they win upon the
-people." But if so, that none are Christians but those that imitate
-Christ, what will become of those who call themselves Christians and
-yet live at ease in the flesh, not regarding the work of the holy
-cross of Christ in their hearts, that crucifies them that bear it
-to the world, and the world to them? This was the true ground of
-their sufferings, and their loud cries against the impieties of the
-greatest; not sparing any ranks, from the throne to the dunghill, as
-knowing their God was no respecter of persons. And now, if you would
-follow them indeed, if you would be Protestants in substance, and
-learn your enemies a way worth their changing for--else better words
-go but a little way--if you would obtain the heavenly inheritance,
-and you would be eternally blessed, be ye persuaded to forsake all
-the pride and pomp of this vain world. O mind the concerns of an
-everlasting rest! Let the just and serious principle of God within
-you be the constant guide and companion of your minds, and let
-your whole hearts be exercised thereby, that you may experience an
-entire reformation and change of affections, through the power of
-that divine leaven which leavens the whole lump, viz. body, soul,
-and spirit, where it is received; to which, and its work in man,
-our blessed Lord likened the kingdom of God which He came to set up
-in the soul: that so having the joys and glory of another world in
-your view, you may give your best diligence to make your calling and
-election to the possession of them sure and certain; lest, selling
-that noble inheritance for a poor mess of perishing pottage, you
-never enter into his eternal rest. And though this testimony may
-seem too tedious, yet could it by no means be omitted.--To authorize
-our last reason, of converting superfluities into the relief of
-distressed persons, although one would think it so equal and sober,
-that it needs no other authority than its own, yet I shall produce
-two testimonies so remarkable, that as they ever were esteemed truly
-good, so they cannot be approved by any that refuse to do the same,
-without condemning themselves of great iniquity. Oh, you are called
-with an high and holy call; as high as heaven, and as holy as God;
-for it is He that calls us to holiness through Christ, who sent his
-Son to bless us, in turning us from the evil of our ways; and unless
-we are so turned we can have no claim to the blessing that comes by
-Christ to men.
-
-  [67] Bern de Gir lora. de Hail. Hist. de la Fr. 1. 10. Vesemb. Orat.
-  in Wald. Beza Hist. hom. dig. virer de ver. et fals. Rel. 1. 4, c.
-  13, p. 249, Cat. Test. ve. 334, Vigin, Bibl. Hist. p. 1.
-
-  [68] Vieaux Mem. fol. 6, 7.
-
-  [69] Mut. Par. in Hen. 3, Anno, 1220. Sigonius de Reg. Ital. 1, 7.
-
-  [70] Sernay, c. 47, Chef. 1. 3, c. 7.
-
-  [71] The devil is a Scripturian sometimes.
-
-  [72] Rain. cap. de stud. pervert. alios et modo dicendi. l. 98.
-  Baron. Eccl. Annal. tom. 18, an. 1176, p. 835. Kranz. in Metrop. l.
-  8. sect. 18, and in Sax. l. 8, cap. 16.
-
-XXI. It is reported of Paulinus,[73] bishop of Nola in Italy, that,
-instead of converting the demesnes of his diocese to particular
-enrichment, he employed it all in the redemption of poor slaves and
-prisoners: believing it unworthy of the Christian faith, to see
-God's creation labour under the want of what he had to spare. All
-agree this was well done, but few agree to do the same.
-
-  [73] Eccl. Hist. p. 5, 393.
-
-XXII. But more particularly that of Acacius,[74] bishop of Amida,
-given us by Socrates Scholasticus, in this manner: "When the Roman
-soldiers purposed in nowise to restore again unto the king of
-Persia such captives as they had taken at the winning of Azazena,
-being about seven thousand in number, to the great grief of the
-king of Persia, and all of them ready to starve for want of food:
-Acacius lamented their condition, and calling his clergy together,
-said thus unto them, 'Our God hath no need of dishes or of cups,
-for He neither eateth nor drinketh; these are not his necessaries;
-wherefore, seeing the church hath many precious jewels, both of
-gold and silver, bestowed of the free-will and liberality of
-the faithful, it is requisite that the captive soldiers should
-be therewith redeemed, and delivered out of prison and bondage,
-and they perishing with famine should therewith be refreshed and
-relieved.'" Thus he prevailed to have them all converted into money;
-some for their immediate refreshment, some for their redemption,
-and the rest for coastage or provision, to defray the charges of
-their voyage. Which noble act had such an universal influence, that
-it more famed the Christian religion among the Infidels, than all
-their disputes and battles: insomuch that the King of Persia, a
-Heathen, said, "The Romans endeavour to win their adversaries both
-by wars and favours;" and greatly desired to behold that man, whose
-religion taught so much charity to enemies; which, it is reported,
-Theodosius, the emperor, commanded Acacius to gratify him in. And
-if the Apostle Paul's expression hath any force, that "He is worse
-than an infidel who provides not for his family;" (1 Tim. 5;) how
-greatly doth his example aggravate your shame, that can behold
-such pity and compassion expressed to strangers, nay, enemies, and
-those infidels too, and be so negligent of your own family; (for
-England, aye, Christendom, in a sense, if not the world, is no
-more;) as not only to see their great necessities unanswered, but
-that wherewith they should be satisfied, converted to gratify the
-lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life? But
-however such can please themselves, in the deceitful daubing of
-their mercenary priests, and dream they are members of Jesus Christ,
-it is certain that things were otherwise in the beginning; for then
-all was sold, and put into a common purse, to supply indigences:
-(Acts, iv. 32-37:) not mattering earthly inheritances, further than
-as they might, in some sense, be subservient to the great end for
-which they were given; namely, the good of the creation. Thus had
-the purest Christians their minds and thoughts taken up with the
-better things, and raised with the assurance of a more excellent
-life and inheritance in the heavens, that will never pass away. And
-for any to flatter themselves with being Christians, whilst so much
-exercised in the vanities, recreations, and customs of the world,
-as at this very day we see they are, is to mock the great God, and
-abuse their immortal souls. The Christian life is quite another
-thing.
-
-  [74] Socrat. Scholast.
-
-And lest that any should object, many do great and seemingly good
-actions to raise their reputation only; and others only decry
-pleasure, because they have not wherewithal, or know not how to take
-it; I shall present them with the serious sayings of aged and dying
-men, and those of the greatest note and rank, whose experience could
-not be wanting to give the truest account, how much their honours,
-riches, pleasures, and recreations, conduced to their satisfaction,
-upon a just reckoning, as well before their extreme moments as upon
-their dying beds, when death, that hard passage into eternity,
-looked them in the face.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXI.
-
-_Serious dying, as well as living testimonies of Men of Fame and
-Learning, viz._
-
-     1. Solomon.--2. Chilon.--3. Ignatius.--4. Justin Martyr.--5.
-     Chrysostom.--6. Charles V.--7. Cardinal Wolsey.--8. Sir Philip
-     Sidney.--9. Secretary Walsingham.--10. Sir John Mason.--11.
-     Sir Walter Raleigh.--12. H. Wotton.--13. Sir Christopher
-     Hatton.--14. Lord Chancellor Bacon.--15. The great Duke of
-     Montmorency.--16. Henry Prince of Wales.--17. Philip III. King
-     of Spain.--18. Count Gondamor.--19. Cardinal Richlieu.--20.
-     Cardinal Mazarine.--21. Chancellor Oxenstiern.--22.
-     Dr. Donne.--23. Jo. Selden.--24. H. Grotius.--25. P.
-     Salmasius.--26. Fran. Junius.--27. A. Rivetus.--28. The late
-     Earl of Marlborough.--29. Sir Henry Vane.--30. Late Earl of
-     Rochester.--31. One of the family of Howard.--32. Princess
-     Elizabeth of the Rhine.--33. Commissioner Whitlock.--34. A
-     Sister of the family of Penn.--35. My own Father.--36. Anthony
-     Lowther of Mask.--37. Seigneur du Renti.
-
-
-I. Solomon, than whom none is believed to have more delighted
-himself in the enjoyments of the world, at least better to have
-understood them; hear what he says, after all his experience:
-(Eccles. ii. 1-11:) "I said in my heart, Go to now, I will prove
-thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and behold, this also
-is vanity. I said of laughter, it is mad: and of mirth, what doth
-it? I made me great works, builded houses, planted vineyards, made
-gardens and orchards, planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit: I
-got me servants and maidens, also great possessions: I gathered me
-silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and provinces;
-also men and women, singers, and the delights of the sons of men,
-as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great,
-and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem, and
-whatsoever mine eyes desired, I kept not from them: I withheld not
-mine heart from any joy. Then I looked on the works which mine hands
-had wrought, and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit."
-The reason he gives in the 18th and 19th verses is, that the time
-of enjoying them was very short, and it was uncertain who should be
-benefited by them when he was gone. Wherefore, he concludes with all
-this: "Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole
-duty of man: for God shall bring every work into judgment, whether
-it be good, or whether it be evil." O that men would lay this to
-heart!
-
-II. Chilon,[75] one of the seven wise men of Greece, already
-mentioned upon another occasion, affords us a dying testimony of
-great example. It is related thus by A. Gellius: when his life
-drew towards an end, ready to be seized by death, he spoke thus to
-his friends about him: "My words and actions, in this long term of
-years, have been, almost all, such as I need not repent of; which,
-perhaps, you also know: truly, even at this time I am certain I
-never committed anything the remembrance of which begets any trouble
-in me, unless this one thing only: which, whether it were done amiss
-or not, I am uncertain. I sat with two others as judge, upon the
-life of my friend: the law was such, as the person must of necessity
-be condemned, so that either my friend must lose his life, or some
-deceit be used towards the law. Revolving many things in my mind,
-for relief of a condition so desperate, I conceived that which I
-put in practice to be of all others the most easy to be borne:
-silently I condemned him, and persuaded those others who judged,
-to absolve him: thus I preserved in so great a business, the duty
-both of a judge and a friend. But from that act I received this
-trouble: that I fear it is not free from perfidiousness and guilt,
-in the same business, at the same time, and in a public affair, to
-persuade others contrary to what was in my own judgment best." Oh,
-tender conscience! Yet an Heathen's. Where dwells the Christian that
-excelleth? Hard to be found among the great rabbies of Christendom.
-
-  [75] Severus Apop. p. 175.
-
-III. Ignatius,[76] who lived within the first hundred years after
-Christ, left this, amongst other things, behind him, who was torn in
-pieces of wild beasts at Rome, for his true faith in Jesus, "There
-is nothing better than the peace of a good conscience;" intimating
-there might be a peace to wicked consciences, that are past feeling
-anything to be evil, but swallowed up of the wickedness of the
-world. And in his epistles to the churches at Ephesus, Magnesia,
-Trallis, and Rome, upon his martyrdom, saith, "Now I begin to be a
-disciple, I weigh neither visible nor invisible things, so that I
-may gain Christ." Oh, heavenly-minded man! A blessed martyr of Jesus
-indeed.
-
-  [76] Ignatius Epist. ad Ephes. Mag. Trall. Eus. 1. iii. c. 32, Rom.
-
-IV. Justin Martyr, a philosopher who received Christianity
-five-and-twenty years after the death of Ignatius, plainly tells us,
-in his relation of his conversion to the Christian faith, that the
-power of godliness in a plain, simple Christian, had that influence
-and operation on his soul, that he could not but betake himself to a
-serious and strict life; and yet, before, he was a Cynic, a strict
-sect: and this gave him joy at his martyrdom, having spent his days
-as a serious teacher, and a good example. And Eusebius relates,
-that, though he was also a follower of Plato's doctrine,[77] yet
-when he saw the Christians' piety and courage, he concluded, no
-people so temperate, less voluptuous, and more set on divine things:
-which first induced him to be a Christian.
-
-  [77] Euseb. Eccl. Hist. 1. 4, c. 8.
-
-V. Chrysostom, another father, so called, lays this down for
-necessary doctrine, "To sacrifice the whole soul and body to the
-Lord, is the highest service we can pay unto Him. God promiseth
-mercy unto penitent sinners; but He doth not promise them they shall
-have so much time as to-morrow for their repentance."
-
-VI. Charles V. Emperor of Germany, King of Spain, and Lord of the
-Netherlands, after three-and-twenty pitched fields, six triumphs,
-four kingdoms conquered, and eight principalities added to his
-dominions, a greater instance than whom can scarce be given,
-resigned up all his pomp to other hands, and betook himself to his
-retirement; leaving this testimony behind him, concerning the life
-he spent in the honours and pleasures of the world, and in that
-little time of his retreat from them all: that the sincere study,
-profession, and practice of the Christian religion, had in it such
-joys and sweetness as courts were strangers to.
-
-VII. Cardinal Wolsey, the most absolute and wealthy minister of
-state this kingdom ever had, that in his time seemed to govern
-Europe as well as England, when come to the period of his life,
-left the world with this close reflection upon himself: "Had I been
-as diligent to serve my God, as I was to please my king, He would
-not have left me now in my grey hairs." A dismal reflection for all
-worldly-minded men; but those more especially, who have the power
-and means of doing more good than ordinary in the world, and do it
-not; which seems to have been the case and reflection of this great
-man.
-
-VIII. Sir Philip Sidney, a subject indeed of England, but they say
-chosen king of Poland, whom Queen Elizabeth called her Philip; the
-Prince of Orange, his master; whose friendship the lord Brooks was
-so proud of, that he would have it part of his epitaph, "Here lies
-Sir Philip Sidney's friend;" whose death was lamented in verse by
-the then kings of France and Scotland, and the two universities of
-England; repented so much at his death of that witty vanity of his
-life, his Arcadia, that, to prevent the unlawful kindling of heats
-in others, he would have committed it to the flames himself: and
-left this farewell amongst his friends, "Love my memory, cherish
-my friends; their faith to me may assure you that they are honest;
-but above all govern your wills and affections by the will and word
-of your Creator. In me behold the end of this world, and all its
-vanities." And indeed he was not much out in saying so, since in him
-was to be seen the end of all natural parts, acquired learning, and
-civil accomplishments. His farewell seems spoken without terror,
-with a clear sense, and an equal judgment.
-
-IX. Secretary Walsingham, an extraordinary man in Queen Elizabeth's
-time, towards the conclusion of his days, in a letter to his
-fellow-secretary Burleigh, then lord-treasurer of England, writes
-thus: "We have lived enough to our country, our fortunes, our
-sovereign: it is high time we begin to live to ourselves, and to
-our God." Which, giving occasion for some court-droll to visit and
-try to divert him: "Ah!" said he, "while we laugh, all things are
-serious round about us; God is serious, when He preserveth us, and
-hath patience towards us; Christ is serious when He dieth for us;
-the Holy Ghost is serious, when He striveth with us; the whole
-creation is serious, in serving God and us; they are serious in hell
-and in heaven: and shall a man, that has one foot in the grave,
-jest and laugh?" O that our statesmen would weigh the conviction,
-advice, and conclusion of this great man, and the greatest man,
-perhaps, that has borne that character in our nation! For true it
-is, that none can be serious too soon, because none can be good too
-soon. Away, then, with all foolish talking and jesting, and let
-people mind more profitable things.
-
-X. John Mason, knight, who had been privy-counsellor to four
-princes, and spent much time in the preferments and pleasures of the
-world, retired with these pathetical and regretful sayings: "After
-so many years' experience, seriousness is the greatest wisdom;
-temperance the best physic; a good conscience is the best estate.
-And were I to live again, I would change the court for a cloister,
-my privy-counsellor's bustles for a hermit's retirement, and the
-whole life I lived in the palace, for one hour's enjoyment of God in
-the chapel. All things else forsake me, besides my God, my duty, and
-my prayers."
-
-XI. Sir Walter Raleigh is an eminent instance, being as
-extraordinary a man, as our nation hath produced; in his person
-well descended; of health, strength, and a masculine beauty; in
-understanding quick: in judgment sound; learned and wise, valiant
-and skilful; a historian, a philosopher, a general, a statesman.
-After a long life, full of experience, he drops these excellent
-sayings, a little before his death, to his son, to his wife, and
-to the world, viz.: "Exceed not in the humour of rags and bravery,
-for these will soon wear out of fashion: and no man is esteemed for
-gay garments but by fools and women. On the other side, seek not
-riches basely, nor attain them by evil means: destroy no man for
-his wealth, nor take anything from the poor; for the cry thereof
-will pierce the heavens: and it is most detestable before God, and
-most dishonourable before worthy men, to wrest anything from the
-needy and labouring soul: God will never prosper thee, if thou
-offendest therein; but use thy poor neighbours and tenants well."
-A most worthy saying. But he adds, "Have compassion on the poor and
-afflicted, and God will bless thee for it: make not the hungry soul
-sorrowful; for if he curse thee in the bitterness of his soul, his
-prayer shall be heard of Him that made him. Now, for the world,
-dear child, I know it too well to persuade thee to dive into the
-practices of it; rather stand upon thy own guard against all those
-that tempt thee to it, or may practise upon thee; whether in thy
-conscience, thy reputation, or thy estate: resolve, that no man
-is wise or safe but he that is honest. Serve God; let Him be the
-Author of all thy actions: commend all thy endeavours to Him, who
-most either wither or prosper them: please Him with prayer; lest if
-He frown, He confound all thy fortune and labour, like the drops of
-rain upon the sandy ground. Let my experienced advice and fatherly
-instructions sink deep into thy heart: so God direct thee in all thy
-ways, and fill thy heart with his grace."
-
-
-_Sir Walter Raleigh's Letter to his Wife, after his Condemnation._
-
-     "You shall receive, my dear wife, my last words, in these my
-     last lines. My love I send you, that you may keep when I am
-     dead; and my counsel, that you may remember it when I am no
-     more. I would not, with my will, present you sorrows, dear Bess;
-     let them go to the grave with me, and be buried in the dust:
-     and, seeing that it is not the will of God that I shall see
-     you any more, bear my destruction patiently, and with a heart
-     like yourself. First, I send you all the thanks which my heart
-     can conceive, or my words express, for your many travails and
-     cares for me; which, though they have not taken effect as you
-     wished, yet my debt to you is not the less; but pay it I never
-     shall in this world. Secondly, I beseech you, for the love you
-     bear me living, that you do not hide yourself many days; but
-     by your travails seek to help my miserable fortunes, and the
-     right of your poor child: your mourning cannot avail me, who
-     am but dust. Thirdly, you shall understand, that my lands were
-     conveyed, _bona fide_, to my child; the writings were drawn at
-     Midsummer was at twelvemonth, as divers can witness: and I trust
-     my blood will quench their malice who desired my slaughter,
-     that they will not seek to kill you and yours with extreme
-     poverty. To what friend to direct you, I know not, for all mine
-     have left me, in the true time of trial: most sorry am I, that,
-     being surprised by death, I can leave you no better estate: God
-     hath prevented all my determinations, that great God, which
-     worketh all in all. If you can live free from want, care for
-     no more, for the rest is but a vanity. Love God, and begin
-     betimes; in Him shall you find true, everlasting, and endless
-     comfort: when you have travailed and wearied yourself with all
-     sorts of worldly cogitations, shall you sit down by sorrow in
-     the end. Teach your son also to serve and fear God, whilst he
-     is young, that the fear of God may grow up in him; then will
-     God be a husband to you, and a father to him; a husband and a
-     father that can never be taken from you. Dear wife, I beseech
-     you, for my soul's sake, pay all poor men. When I am dead, no
-     doubt but you will be much sought unto, for the world thinks I
-     was very rich. Have a care of the fair pretences of men; for
-     no greater misery can befal you in this life, than to become a
-     prey unto the world, and afterwards to be despised. As for me,
-     I am no more yours, nor you mine: death has cut us asunder, and
-     God hath divided me from the world, and you from me. Remember
-     your poor child, for his father's sake, who loved you in his
-     happiest estate. I sued for my life, but God knows, it was for
-     you and yours that I desired it: for know it, my dear wife,
-     your child is the child of a true man, who in his own respect
-     despiseth death, and his misshapen and ugly forms. I cannot
-     write much. God knows how hardly I steal this time, when all
-     are asleep, and it is also time for me to separate my thoughts
-     from the world. Beg my dead body, which living was denied you;
-     and either lay it in Sherborne, or in Exeter church, by my
-     father and mother. I can say no more; time and death call me
-     away. The everlasting God, powerful, infinite, and inscrutable,
-     God Almighty, who is goodness itself, the true light and life,
-     keep you and yours, and have mercy upon me, and forgive my
-     persecutors, and false accusers; and send us to meet in his
-     glorious kingdom. My dear wife, farewell; bless my boy; pray for
-     me; and let my true God hold you both in his arms.
-
-     "Your's that was, but not now mine own,
-
-     "Walter Raleigh."
-
-Behold wisdom, resolution, nature, and grace! How strong in
-argument, wise in counsel, firm, affectionate, and devout! O that
-your heroes and politicians would make him their example in his
-death, as well as magnify the great actions of his life. I doubt
-not, had he been to live over his days again, with his experience,
-he had made less noise, and yet done more good to the world and
-himself. It is a sad thing to consider, that, men hardly come to
-know themselves or the world, till they are ready to leave it.
-
-XII. Henry Wotton, knight, thought it the greatest happiness in this
-life, "to be at leisure to be and to do good;" as in his latter end
-he was wont to say, when he reflected on past times, though a man
-esteemed sober and learned, "How much time have I to repent of, and
-how little to do it in!"
-
-XIII. Sir Christopher Hatton, a little before his death, advised
-his relations to be serious in the search after "the will of God in
-the holy word:" "for," said he, "it is deservedly accounted a piece
-of excellent knowledge, to understand the law of the land, and the
-customs of a man's country; how much more to know the statutes of
-heaven, and the laws of eternity; those immutable and eternal laws
-of justice and righteousness; to know the will and pleasure of the
-great Monarch, and universal King of the world: I have seen an end
-of all perfection, but thy commandments, O God, are exceeding broad."
-
-Whatever other knowledge a man may be endued withal, could he by a
-vast and imperious mind, and a heart as large as the sand upon the
-sea-shore, command all the knowledge of art and nature, of words and
-things; could he attain a mystery in all languages, and sound the
-depth of all arts and sciences; could he discourse of the interests
-of all states, the intrigues of all courts, the reason of all civil
-laws and constitutions, and give an account of all histories; and
-yet not know the Author of his being, and the Preserver of his life,
-his Sovereign, and his Judge; his surest refuge in trouble: his best
-Friend; the support of his life, and the hope of his death; his
-future happiness, and his portion for ever; he doth but _sapienter
-descendere in infernum_, with a great deal of wisdom go down to Hell.
-
-XIV. Francis Bacon, lord high-chancellor of England, some time
-before his death, confessed, that, to be religious, was to live
-strictly and severely; for if the opinion of another world be false,
-yet the sweetest life in this world is piety, virtue, and honesty;
-if it were true, there be none so wretched and miserable, as loose,
-carnal, and profane persons.
-
-XV. The great duke de Montmorency, colleague to the duke of Orleans,
-brother to the French king, Lewis XIII., in the war by them agitated
-against the ministry of Cardinal Richlieu, being taken and convicted
-at Lyons, a little before his beheading, looking upon himself, then
-very richly attired; "Ah!" says he, "this becomes not a servant of
-the crucified Jesus! What do I with these vanities about me? He was
-poor, despised, and naked, when He went to the cross to die for my
-sins;" and immediately he stripped himself of all his finery, and
-put a more grave and modest garment on him: a serious reflection, at
-a time when he best knew what was best.
-
-XVI. Henry, Prince of Wales, eldest son to king James I., of whom
-others say many excellent things, hear what account he gives of
-himself at last: a person whom he loved, and that had been the
-companion of his diversions, being with him in his sickness, and
-asking him how he did, was, amongst many other sober expressions,
-answered thus: "Ah, Tom! I in vain wish for that time I lost with
-thee and others in vain recreations." So vain were recreations, and
-so precious was time to a prince, and no ordinary one neither, upon
-a dying bed. But why wished he with others for more time, but that
-it might be better employed? Thus hath the just principle and holy
-Spirit of God in men, throughout all generations, convinced them of
-their vanity and folly upon their dying beds, who before were too
-much taken up to mind either a dying bed, or a vast eternity; but
-when their days were almost numbered, when mortality hasted on them,
-when the revelation of the righteous judgment was at the door, and
-that all their worldly recreations and enjoyments must be parted
-with, and that eye for ever shut, and flesh turned to worm's-meat,
-that took delight therein; then, O then, was it the holy witness had
-room to plead with conscience: then nothing but a holy, strict, and
-severe life was valuable; then all the world for a little time, who
-before had given all their time for a little of a vain world. But if
-so short a representation of the inconsistency of the vanities of
-the world with the Christian life, could make so deep an impression;
-oh! to what a noble stature and large proportion had they been grown
-in all pious and heavenly knowledge; and how much greater had
-their rewards been if they contentedly had foregone those perishing
-entertainments of the world betimes, and given the exercise of their
-minds to the tuition and guidance of that universal grace and Holy
-Spirit of God, which had so long shined in darkness, uncomprehended
-of it, and was at last but just perceived to give a sight of what
-they had been doing all their days.
-
-XVII. Philip III. King of Spain, seriously reflecting upon the
-life he had led in the world, cried out upon his death-bed, "Ah!
-how happy were I, had I spent these twenty-three years that I have
-held my kingdom, in a retirement." Crying out to his confessor, "My
-concern is for my soul, not my body. I lay all that God has given
-me, my dominion, power, and my life, at the feet of Jesus Christ my
-Saviour." Would kings would live, as well as die so!
-
-XVIII. Count Gondamor, ambassador in England for that very king,
-and held the ablest man of his time, took great freedom as to his
-religion in his politics, serving his ends by those ways that would
-best accomplish them. When, towards his latter end, he grew very
-thoughtful of his past life, and after all his negotiations and
-successes in business, said to one of his friends, "I fear nothing
-in the world more than sin;" often professing, he had rather endure
-hell than sin: so clear and strong were his convictions, and so
-exceeding sinful did sin appear to him, upon a serious consideration
-of his ways.
-
-XIX. Cardinal Richelieu, after having been first minister of state
-of Europe, as well as of France, confessed to old Peter de Moulin,
-the famous Protestant of that country, that, being forced upon many
-irregularities by that which they call reason of state, he could not
-tell how to satisfy his conscience for several things, and therefore
-had many temptations to doubt and disbelieve a God, another world,
-and the immortality of the soul, and thereby to relieve his mind
-from any disquiet, but in vain. So strong, he said, was the notion
-of God on his soul, so clear the impression of Him upon the frame
-of the world, so unanimous the consent of mankind, so powerful the
-convictions of his own conscience, that he could not but taste the
-power of the world to come, and so live as one that must die, and
-so die as one that must live for ever. And being asked one day why
-he was so sad, answered, "Monsieur, Monsieur, the soul is a serious
-thing; it must be either sad here for a moment, or be sad for ever."
-
-XX. Cardinal Mazarin, reputed the most cunning statesman of his
-time, and who gave great proofs of it in the successes of the French
-crown, under his ministry: his aim was the grandeur of the world,
-to which he made all other considerations submit: but, poor man! he
-was of another mind a little before his death: for, being awakened
-by the smart lashes of conscience, which represented his soul's
-condition very dismal, with astonishment and tears he cried out,
-"Oh, my poor soul, what will become of thee! Whither wilt thou go?"
-and spake one day thus to the Queen-mother of France, "Madam, your
-favours have undone me. Were I to live again, I would be a Capuchin,
-rather than a courtier."
-
-XXI. Count Oxenstiern, chancellor of Sweden, a person of the first
-quality, station, and ability in his own country, and whose share
-and success, not only in the chief ministry of affairs in that
-kingdom, but in the greatest negotiations of Europe during his
-time, made him no less considerable abroad. After all his knowledge
-and honour, being visited in his retreat from public business, by
-commissioner Whitlock, ambassador from England to Queen Christiana,
-in the conclusion of their discourse, he said to the ambassador, "I
-have seen much, and enjoyed much of this world, but I never knew how
-to live till now. I thank my good God that has given me time to
-know Him, and to know myself. All the comfort I have, and all the
-comfort I take, and which is more than the whole world can give,
-is feeling the good Spirit of God in my heart, and reading in this
-good book," holding up the Bible, "that came from it." And further
-addressed himself thus to the ambassador: "You are now in the prime
-of your age and vigour, and in great favour and business; but this
-will all leave you, and you will one day better understand and
-relish what I say to you; and then you will find that there is more
-wisdom, truth, comfort, and pleasure, in retiring and turning your
-heart from the world, to the good Spirit of God, and in reading the
-Bible, than in all the courts and favours of princes." This I had,
-as near as I am able to remember, from the ambassador's own mouth,
-more than once. A very edifying history, when we consider from
-whom it came; one of the greatest and wisest men of his age, while
-his understanding was as sound and vigorous, as his experience and
-knowledge were great.
-
-XXII. Dr. Donne, a great poet, taking his farewell of his friends,
-on his dying bed, left this saying behind him, for them to measure
-their fancies and their actions by: "I repent of all my life, but
-that part of it I spent in communion with God, and doing good."
-
-XXIII. Selden, one of the greatest scholars and antiquaries of his
-time: one who had taken a diligent survey of what knowledge was
-considerable amongst the Jews, Heathens, and Christians; at last
-professeth this toward the end of his days, in his conference with
-Bishop Usher, that, notwithstanding he had been so laborious in
-his inquiries, and curious in his collections, and had possessed
-himself of a treasure of books and manuscripts, upon all ancient
-subjects; yet he could rest his soul on none, save the Scriptures,
-and above all that passage lay most remarkably upon his spirit,
-(Titus ii. 11-15,) "For the grace of God, that bringeth salvation,
-hath appeared unto all men, teaching us, that, denying ungodliness
-and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly
-in this present world: looking for that blessed hope, and glorious
-appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave
-Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and
-purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works: these
-things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority." And indeed
-it is one of the most comprehensive passages in the Scripture; for
-it comprises the end, means, and recompense of Christianity.
-
-XXIV. Hugo Grotius, than whom these latter ages think they have not
-had a man of more universal knowledge, "a light," say the statesmen;
-"a light," say the churchmen too; witness his Annals, and his Book,
-De Jure Belli et Pacis; also his Christian Religion, and elaborate
-Commentaries. He winds up his life and choice in this remarkable
-saying, which should abate the edge of other men's inordinate
-desires after what they falsely call learning; namely, "I would
-give all my learning and honour for the plain integrity of Jean
-Urick, who was a religious poor man, that spent eight hours of his
-time in prayer, eight in labour, and but eight in meals, sleep, and
-other necessaries." And to one that admired his great industry, he
-returned this by way of complaint: "Ah! I have consumed my life in
-laboriously doing nothing." And to another, that inquired of his
-wisdom and learning, what course to take, he solemnly answered,
-"Be serious." Such was the sense he had, how much a serious life
-excelled, and was of force towards a dying hour.
-
-XXV. To whom I join Salmasius, that famous French scholar, and the
-other's contemporary, who after his many volumes of learning, by
-which he had acquired great veneration among men of books, confessed
-so far to have mistaken true learning, and that in which solid
-happiness consists, that he exclaimed thus against himself: "Oh! I
-have lost a world of time; time, that most precious thing in the
-world; whereof, had I but one year more, it should be spent in
-David's Psalms, and Paul's Epistles. Oh, Sirs," said he to those
-about him, "mind the world less, and God more: the fear of the Lord,
-that is wisdom; and to depart from evil, that is understanding."
-
-XXVI. Francis Junius, an ingenious person, who hath written his own
-life, as he was reading Tully de Legibus, fell into a persuasion,
-_Nihil curare Deum, nec sui, nec alieni_; till in a tumult in Lyons,
-the Lord wonderfully delivered him from imminent death; so that
-he was forced to acknowledge a divine Providence therein, and his
-father hearing the dangerous ways that his son was misled into,
-sent for him home, where he carefully and piously instructed him,
-and caused him to read over the New Testament; of which himself
-writeth thus: "When I opened the New Testament, I first lighted upon
-John's first chapter, "In the beginning was the word," &c. I read
-part of the chapter, and was suddenly convinced, that the divinity
-of the argument, and the majesty and authority of the writing, did
-exceedingly excel all the eloquence of human writings: my body
-trembled, my mind was astonished, and was so affected all that day,
-that I knew not where and what I was. Thou wast mindful of me, O my
-God, according to the multitude of thy mercies, and calledst home
-thy lost sheep into the fold." And, as Justin Martyr of old, so he
-of late professed, that the power of godliness in a plain simple
-Christian wrought so upon him, that he could not but take up a
-strict and a serious life.
-
-XXVII. A. Rivetus, a man of learning, and much reverenced in the
-Dutch nation, after a long life of study, in search of Divine
-knowledge, upon his death bed, being discoursed by his friend of
-heavenly things, brake forth in this manner: "God has learned me
-more of himself in ten days' sickness, than I could get by all my
-labour and studies." So near a way, so short a cut it is to the
-knowledge of God, when people come into the right way, which is to
-turn, in their minds and hearts, to the voice of God, and learn of
-Him, who is a Spirit, to be taught of Him, and led by Him: For in
-righteousness such shall be established, and great shall be their
-peace.
-
-     _A Letter from James, Earl of Marlborough, a little before his
-     Death, in the Battle at Sea, on the Coast of Holland, &c._
-
-XXVIII. "I believe the goodness of your nature, and the friendship
-you have always borne me, will receive with kindness the last
-office of your friend. I am in health enough of body, and, through
-the mercy of God, in Jesus Christ, well disposed in mind. This I
-premise, that you may be satisfied that what I write proceeds not
-from any fantastic terror of mind, but from a sober resolution of
-what concerns myself, and earnest desire to do you more good after
-my death, than mine example (God of his mercy pardon the badness of
-it!) in my lifetime may do you harm. I will not speak aught of the
-vanity of this world; your own age and experience will save that
-labour: but there is a certain thing that goeth up and down in the
-world, called religion, dressed, and pretended fantastically, and
-to purposes bad enough, which yet by such evil dealings loseth not
-its being. The great good God hath not left it without a witness,
-more or less, sooner or later, in every man's bosom, to direct
-us in the pursuit of it; and for the avoiding those inextricable
-disquisitions and entanglements our own frail reasons would perplex
-us withal, God in his infinite mercy hath given us his holy word, in
-which, as there are many things hard to be understood, so there is
-enough plain and easy to quiet our minds, and direct us concerning
-our future being. I confess to God and you, I have been a great
-neglecter, and, I fear, despiser of it: God of his infinite mercy
-pardon me the dreadful fault! But when I retired myself from the
-noise and deceitful vanity of the world, I found no true comfort in
-any other resolution than what I had from thence: I commend, from
-the bottom of my heart, the same to your, I hope, happy use. Dear
-Hugh, let us be more generous, than to believe we die as the beasts
-that perish; but with a christian, manly, brave resolution, look to
-what is eternal. I will not trouble you further. The only great God,
-and holy God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, direct you to a happy end
-of your life, and send us a joyful resurrection! So prays your true
-friend,
-
-  "Marlborough."
-
-XXIX. The late Sir Henry Vane must be too fresh in memory to need a
-character; but it is certain, his parts were of the first rate, and
-superior to the generality of men; but he would often say, he owed
-them to religion. In his youth he was much addicted to company, and
-promised little to business; but in reading a book, called, "The
-Signs of a Godly Man," and being convicted in himself that they were
-just, but that he had no share in any one of them, he fell into that
-extreme anguish and horror, that for some days and nights he took
-little food or rest, which at once dissolved his old friendships,
-and made those impressions and resolutions to religion, that
-neither university, courts, princes, nor parents, nor any losses
-or disappointments that threatened his new course of life, could
-weaken or alter. And though this laid him under some disadvantages
-for a time, his great integrity and abilities quickly broke through
-that obscurity; so that those of very differing sentiments did not
-only admire, but very often desired him to accept the most eminent
-negotiations of his country, which he served according to his own
-principles with great success, and a remarkable self-denial. This
-great man's maxim was, Religion was the best master, and the best
-friend; for it made men wise, and would never leave them that never
-left it; which he found true in himself: for as it made him wiser
-than those that had been his teachers, so it made him firmer than
-any hero, having something more than nature to support him: which
-was the judgment as well of foreigners as others, that had the
-curiosity to see him die. Making good some meditations of his own,
-viz.: "The day of death is the judge of all our other days: the very
-trial and touch-stone of the actions of our life. It is the end that
-crowns the work, and a good death honoureth a man's whole life.
-The fading corruption and loss of this life is the passage into a
-better. Death is no less essential to us, than to live or to be
-born. In flying death, thou fliest thyself; thy essence is equally
-parted into these two, life and death. It is no small reproach to
-a Christian, whose faith is in immortality, and the blessedness of
-another life, to fear death much, which is the necessary passage
-thereunto."
-
-XXX. The late earl of Rochester was inferior to nobody in wit, and
-hardly anybody ever used it worse, if we believe him against himself
-in his dying reflections; an account of which I have had from some
-that visited him in his sickness, besides that larger one, made
-public by the Bishop of Salisbury. It was then that he came to think
-there was a God, for he felt his lashes on his conscience, and that
-there was such a thing as virtue, and a reward for it. Christianity
-was no longer a worldly or absurd design; but Christ, a Saviour, and
-a most merciful one; and his doctrines plain, just, and reasonable,
-and the true way to felicity here and hereafter. Admiring and
-adoring that mercy to him, which he had treated with so much
-infidelity and obstinate contempt: wishing only for more life to
-confute his past one, and in some measure to repair the injuries he
-had done to religion by it; begging forgiveness for Christ's sake,
-though he thought himself the most unworthy of it for his own,--thus
-died the witty Lord Rochester, and this retreat he made from the
-world he had so great a name in. May the loose wits of the times, as
-he desired, take warning by him, and not leave their repentance to a
-dying bed!
-
-XXXI. A noble young man of the family of Howard, having yielded too
-much to the temptations of youth, when upon his sick bed, which
-proved his dying bed, fell under the power and agony of great
-convictions, mightily bewailing himself in the remembrance of his
-former extravagancies; crying strongly to God to forgive him,
-abhorring his former course, and promising amendment, if God renewed
-life to him. However, he was willing to die, having tasted of the
-love and forgiveness of God; warning his acquaintance and kindred
-that came to see him to fear God, and forsake the pleasures and
-vanity of this world: and so willingly yielded his soul from the
-troubles of time, and frailties of mortality.
-
-XXXII. The late princess Elizabeth of the Rhine of right claimeth a
-memorial in this discourse, her virtue giving greater lustre to her
-name than her quality, which yet was of the greatest in the German
-empire. She chose a single life, as freest of care, and best suited
-to the study and meditation she was always inclined to; and the
-chief diversion she took, next to the air, was in some such plain
-and housewifely entertainments as knitting, &c. She had a small
-territory, which she governed so well, that she showed herself fit
-for a greater. She would constantly, every last day in the week,
-sit in judgment, and hear and determine causes herself; where her
-patience, justice, and mercy were admirable; frequently remitting
-her forfeitures, where the party was poor, or otherwise meritorious.
-And what was excellent, though unusual, she would temper her
-discourses with religion, and strangely draw concerned parties to
-submission and agreement; exercising not so much the rigour of her
-power, as the power of her persuasion. Her meekness and humility
-appeared to me extraordinary; she never considered the quality,
-but the merit of the people she entertained. Did she hear of a
-retired man, hid from the world, and seeking after the knowledge
-of a better, she was sure to set him down in the catalogue of her
-charity, if he wanted it; I have casually seen, I believe, fifty
-tokens sealed and superscribed to the several poor subjects of her
-bounty, whose distances would not suffer them to know one another,
-though they knew her, whom yet some of them had never seen. Thus,
-though she kept no sumptuous table in her own court, she spread
-the tables of the poor in their solitary cells; breaking bread
-to virtuous pilgrims, according to their want, and her ability.
-Abstemious in herself, and in apparel void of all vain ornaments.
-
-I must needs say, her mind had a noble prospect; her eye was to a
-better and more lasting inheritance than can be found below: which
-made her often to despise the greatness of courts, and learning of
-the schools, of which she was an extraordinary judge. Being once at
-Hamburgh, a religious person, whom she went to see for religion's
-sake, telling her it was too great an honour for him, that he
-should have a visitant of her quality come under his roof, that
-was allied to so many great kings and princes of this world, she
-humbly answered: "If they were godly as well as great, it would be
-an honour indeed; but if you knew what that greatness was as well as
-I, you would value less that honour." Being in some agony of spirit,
-after a religious meeting we had in her own chamber, she said, "It
-is a hard thing to be faithful to what one knows: Oh, the way is
-strait! I am afraid I am not weighty enough in my spirit to walk in
-it." After another meeting, she uttered these words: "I have records
-in my library, that the Gospel was first brought out of England
-hither into Germany, by the English, and now it is come again."
-She once withdrew, on purpose to give her servants the liberty
-of discoursing with us, that they might the more freely put what
-questions of conscience they desired to be satisfied in; for they
-were religious: suffering both them, and the poorest of her town,
-to sit by her in her own bedchamber, where we had two meetings. I
-cannot forget her last words, when I took my leave of her: "Let
-me desire you to remember me, though I live at this distance, and
-that you should never see me more: I thank you for this good time;
-and know and be assured, though my condition subjects me to divers
-temptations, yet my soul hath strong desires after the best things."
-She lived her single life till about sixty years of age, and then
-departed at her own house in Herwerden, in the year 1680, as much
-lamented as she had lived beloved of the people: to whose real
-worth, I do, with a religious gratitude, for her kind reception,
-dedicate this memorial.
-
-XXXIII. Bulstrode Whitlock, has left his own character in his
-"Memoirs of English affairs;" a book that shows both his employments
-and greater abilities. He was almost ever a commissioner and
-companion with those great men that the lords and commons of
-England, at several times, appointed to treat with King Charles
-I. for a peace. He was commissioner of the great seal, ambassador
-to the crown of Sweden, and sometimes president to the council: a
-scholar, a lawyer, a statesman; in short, he was one of the most
-accomplished men of the age. Being with him sometimes at his own
-house in Berkshire, where he gave me that account I have related of
-chancellor Oxenstiern, amongst many serious things he spoke, this
-was very observable, "I have ever thought," said he, "there has
-been one true religion in the world, and that is the work of the
-Spirit of God in the hearts and souls of men. There have been indeed
-divers forms and shapes of things, through the many dispensations
-of God to men, answerable to his own wise ends, in reference to the
-low and uncertain state of man in the world; but the old world had
-the Spirit of God, for it strove with them; and the new world has
-had the Spirit of God, both Jew and Gentile, and it strives with
-all; and they that have been led by it, have been the good people
-in every dispensation of God to the world. And I myself must say,
-I have felt it from a child to convince me of my evil and vanity,
-and it has often given me a true measure of this poor world, and
-some taste of divine things; and it is my grief I did not more
-early apply my soul to it. For I can say, since my retirement from
-the greatness and hurries of the world, I have felt something of
-the work and comfort of it, and that it is both ready and able to
-instruct, and lead and preserve those that will humbly and sincerely
-hearken to it. So that my religion is the good Spirit of God in my
-heart; I mean, what that has wrought in me and for me." And after
-a meeting at his house, to which he gave an entire liberty for all
-that pleased to come, he was so deeply affected with the testimony
-of the light, spirit, and grace of Christ in man, as the gospel
-dispensation, that after the meeting closed in prayer, he rose up,
-and pulled off his hat, and said, "This is the everlasting gospel I
-have heard this day: and I humbly bless the name of God, that He has
-let me live to see this day, in which the ancient gospel is again
-preached to them that dwell upon the earth."
-
-XXXIV. A sister of the family of Penn, in Buckinghamshire, a young
-woman delighting in the finery and pleasures of the world, was
-seized with a violent illness that proved mortal to her. In the
-time of her sickness she fell into great distress of soul, bitterly
-bewailing the want of that inward peace which makes a death-bed
-easy to the righteous. After several days' languishing, a little
-consolation appeared after this manner. She was some hours in a
-kind of trance; she apprehended she was brought into a place where
-Christ was; to whom, could she but deliver her petition, she hoped
-to be relieved. But her endeavours increased her pain: for as she
-pressed to deliver it, he turned his back upon her, and would not
-so much as look towards her. But that which added to her sorrow,
-was, that she beheld others admitted: however, she gave not over
-importuning him. And when almost ready to faint, and her hope to
-sink, he turned one side of his face towards her, and reached forth
-his hand, and received her request: at which her troubled soul found
-immediate consolation. Turning to those about her, she repeats what
-had befallen her, adding, "Bring me my new clothes, take off the
-lace and finery;" and charged her relations, not to deck and adorn
-themselves after the manner of the world: for that the Lord Jesus,
-whom she had seen, appeared unto her in the likeness of a plain
-countryman, without any trimming or ornament whatever; and that his
-servants ought to be like Him.
-
-XXXV. My own father, after thirty years employment, with good
-success, in divers places of eminent trust and honour in his own
-country, upon a serious reflection, not long before his death,
-spoke to me in this manner: "Son William, I am weary of the world:
-I would not live over my days again, if I could command them with a
-wish: for the snares of life are greater than the fears of death.
-This troubles me, that I have offended a gracious God, that has
-followed me to this day. Oh, have a care of sin: that is the sting
-both of life and death. Three things I commend to you. First,
-Let nothing in this world tempt you to wrong your conscience; I
-charge you, do nothing against your conscience, so will you keep
-peace at home, which will be a feast to you in the day of trouble.
-Secondly, Whatever you design to do, lay it justly, and time it
-seasonably; for that gives security and dispatch. Lastly, Be not
-troubled at disappointments; for if they may be recovered, do it;
-if they cannot, trouble is vain. If you could not have helped
-it, be content; there is often peace and profit in submitting to
-Providence, for afflictions make wise. If you could have helped
-it, let not your trouble exceed instruction for another time:
-these rules will carry you with firmness and comfort through
-this inconstant world." At another time he inveighed against the
-profaneness and impiety of the age; often crying out, with an
-earnestness of spirit, "Woe to thee, O England! God will judge thee,
-O England! Plagues are at thy door, O England!" He much bewailed
-that divers men in power, and many of the nobility and gentry of the
-kingdom, were grown so dissolute and profane; often saying, "God
-has forsaken us; we are infatuated; we will shut our eyes; we will
-not see our true interests and happiness: we shall be destroyed!"
-Apprehending the consequences of the growing looseness of the age
-to be our ruin; and that the methods most fit to serve the kingdom
-with true credit, at home and abroad, were too much neglected:
-the trouble of which did not a little help to feed his distemper,
-which drew him daily nearer to his end: and as he believed it, so
-less concerned or disordered, I never saw him at any time; of which
-I took good notice: wearied to live, as well as near to die, he
-took his leave of us, and of me, with this expression, and a most
-composed countenance: "Son William, if you and your friends keep to
-your plain way of preaching, and keep to your plain way of living,
-you will make an end of the priests to the end of the world. Bury me
-by my mother: live all in love: shun all manner of evil: and I pray
-God to bless you all: and He will bless you."
-
-XXXVI. Anthony Lowther, of Mask, a person of good sense, of a sweet
-temper, a just mind, and of a sober education; when of age to be
-under his own government, was drawn by the men of pleasure of the
-town, into the usual freedoms of it, and was as much a judge as
-anybody of the satisfaction that way of living could yield; but
-some time before his sickness, with a free and strong judgment, he
-would frequently upbraid himself, and contemn the world for those
-unreasonable as well as unchristian liberties that so much abound
-in it; which apprehension increased by the instruction of a long
-and sharp sickness, he would often despise their folly, and abhor
-their guilt; breathing, with some impatience, after the knowledge of
-the best things, and the best company; losing as little time as he
-could, that he might redeem the time he had lost; testifying often,
-with a lively relish, to the truth of religion, from the sense he
-had of it in his own breast: frequently professing, he knew no joy
-comparable to that of being assured of the love and mercy of God;
-which, as he often implored with strong convictions, and a deep
-humility and reverence, so he had frequently tastes thereof before
-his last period; pressing his relations and friends, in a most
-serious and affectionate manner, to love God, and one another more,
-and this vile world less. And of this he was so full, it was almost
-ever the conclusion of his most inward discourses with his family;
-though he sometimes said, he could have been willing to have lived,
-if God had pleased, to see his younger children nearer a settlement
-in the world; yet he felt no desire to live longer in the world, but
-on the terms of living better in it. For that he did not only think
-virtue the safest, but the happiest way of living: commending and
-commanding it to his children upon his last blessing.
-
-I shall conclude this chapter of retired, aged, and dying persons,
-with some collections I have made out of the life of a person of
-great piety and quality of the French nation.
-
-XXXVII. Du Renti, a young nobleman of France, of admirable parts,
-as well as great birth, touched with a sense of the vanity of
-the world, and the sweetness of a retired and religious life,
-notwithstanding the honours and employments that waited for him,
-abandons the pride and pomp of the world, to enjoy a life of more
-communion with God: do but hear him: "I avow," saith he, "that I
-have no gust in anything where I find not Jesus Christ; and for
-a soul that speaks not of Him, or in which we cannot taste any
-effect of grace flowing from his Spirit, (which is the principle of
-operations, both inward and outward, that are solidly Christian,)
-speak not to me at all of such an one: could I, as I may say, behold
-both miracles and wonders there, and yet not Jesus Christ, nor
-hear any talk of Him, I count all but amusement of spirit, loss of
-time, and a very dangerous precipice. Let us encourage ourselves
-to lead this life unknown, and wholly hid from men, but most known
-to and intimate with God; divesting ourselves, and chasing out of
-our minds all those many superfluities, and those many amusements,
-which bring with them so great a damage, that they take up our mind,
-instead of God. So that when I consider that which thwarts and cuts
-into so many pieces this holy, this sweet, and amiable union, which
-we should have continually with God, it appears, that it is only
-a monsieur, a madame, a compliment, and chatting, indeed a mere
-foolery; which notwithstanding doth ravish and wrest from us the
-time that is so precious, and the fellowship that is so holy, and so
-desirable. Let us quit this, I pray you, and learn to court it with
-our own Master; let us well understand our part, our own world, as
-we here phrase it, not that world I mean, which we do renounce, but
-that wherein the children of God do their duties to their Father.
-There is nothing in this world so separate from the world, as God;
-and the greater the saints are, the greater is their retirement into
-Him. This our Saviour taught us whilst He lived on earth, being in
-all his visible employments united to God, and retired into the
-bosom of his Father. Since the time that I gave up my liberty to
-God, as I told you, I was given to understand to what a state of
-annihilation the soul must be brought, to render it capable of union
-with Him: I saw my soul reduced into a small point, contracted and
-shrunk up to nothing: and at the same time I beheld myself, as if
-encompassed with whatsoever the world loves and possesseth; and, as
-it were, a hand removing all this far from me, throwing it into the
-ocean of annihilation.
-
-"In the first place, I saw removed all exterior things, kingdoms,
-great offices, stately buildings, rich household-stuff, gold and
-silver, recreations, pleasures; all which are great encumbrances
-to the soul's passing on to God, of which therefore his pleasure
-is, that she be stripped, that she may arrive at the point of
-nakedness and death, which will bring her into possession of solid
-riches and real life. Assure yourself, there is no security in any
-state, but this of dying and annihilation; which is to be baptized
-into Christ's death, that we live the life of mortification. Our
-best way is therefore to divest ourselves of all, that the holy
-child Jesus may govern all. All that can be imagined in this lower
-world is of small concernment, though it were the losing of all our
-goods, and the death of all the men in it; this poor ant-hill is
-not worthy of a serious thought. Had we but a little faith, and a
-little love, how happy should we esteem ourselves in giving away
-all, to attend no more, save on God alone; and to say, _Deus meus et
-omnia_; my God, and my all! 'Being,' saith he, 'in a chapel richly
-wainscotted, and adorned with very excellent sculpture, and with
-imagery, I beheld it with some attention, having had some skill in
-these things, and saw the bundles of fleurs-de-luce, and of flowers
-in the form of borders, and of very curious workmanship; it was on
-a sudden put into my mind, The original of what thou seest would
-not detain thee at all in seeing it. And I perceived, that indeed
-all these, and those flowers themselves, not in pictures, would
-not have taken me up; and all the ornaments which architecture and
-art invent are but things most mean and low, running in a manner
-only upon flowers, fruits, branches, harpies, and chimeras, part
-whereof are in their very being but things common and low, and part
-of them merely imaginary; and yet man, who croucheth to everything,
-renders himself amorous and a slave of them; no otherwise than as
-if a good workman should stand to copy out, and counterfeit some
-trifles and fopperies. I considered by this sight how poor man was
-to be cheated, amused, and diverted from his sovereign good. And
-since that time, I could make no more stand to consider any of these
-things; and if I did it, I should reproach myself for it, as no
-sooner seeing them in churches or elsewhere, but this presently put
-upon my spirit. The original is nothing; the copy and the image is
-yet less; each thing is vain, except the employment of ourselves
-about God alone. An absolute abnegation will be necessary to all
-things, to follow in simplicity, without reserve or reflection, what
-our Saviour shall work in us, or appoint for us, let it be this or
-that. This way was showed me, in which I ought to walk towards Him:
-and hence it is, that all things to me ordinarily are without any
-gust or delight. I assure you, it is a great shame to a Christian
-to pass his days in this world more at ease than Jesus Christ here
-passed his: ah! had we but a little faith, what repose could we take
-out of the cross!'"
-
-I will conclude his sayings with his dying blessing to his surviving
-children.
-
-"I pray God bless you, and may it please Him to bless you, and to
-preserve you by his grace from the evil of the world, that you may
-have no part therein: and, above all, my children, that you may live
-in the fear and love of God, and yield due obedience to your mother."
-
-Expressions of that weight and moment to the immortal good of man,
-that they abundantly prove to all sensible readers, that the author
-was a man of an enlightened mind, and of a soul mortified to the
-world, and quickened to some tastes of a supernatural life: let his
-youth, let his quality, adorned with so much zeal and piety, so much
-self-denial and constancy, become exemplary to those of worldly
-quality, who may be the readers of this book. Some perhaps will hear
-that truth from the several authors I have reported, whose names,
-death, and time have recovered from the envy of mess that would
-hardly endure it from me, if at all from the living. Be it as it
-will, I shall abundantly rejoice, if God shall please to make any
-part of this discourse effectual to persuade any into the love of
-holiness, without which, certain it is, no man shall see the Lord:
-but the pure in heart shall behold Him for ever.
-
-To conclude, I cannot pass this reflection upon what is observed
-of the sayings of dying men, and which to me seems to have great
-instruction in it, viz.: All men agree, when they come to die,
-it is best to be religious; to live a holy, humble, strict, and
-self-denying life; retired, solitary, temperate, and disencumbered
-of the world. Then loving God above all, and our neighbours as
-ourselves, forgiving our enemies, and praying for them, are solid
-things, and the essential part of religion, as the true ground of
-man's happiness. Then all sin is exceeding sinful, and yields no
-more pleasure: but every inordinate desire is burthensome, and
-severely reproved. Then the world, with all the lawful comforts in
-it, weighs light against that sense and judgment, which such men
-have between the temporal and the eternal. And since it is thus with
-dying men, what instruction is it to the living, whose pretence for
-the most part is a perpetual contradiction? O that men would learn
-to number their days, that they might apply their hearts to wisdom!
-of which, the fear of the Lord is the true and only beginning. And
-blessed are they that fear always, for their feet shall be preserved
-from the snares of death.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXII.
-
-     1. Of the way of living among the first Christians.--2. An
-     exhortation to all professing Christianity, to embrace the
-     foregoing reasons and examples.--3. Plain dealing with such as
-     reject them.--4. Their recompenses.--5. The author is better
-     persuaded and assured of some: an exhortation to them.--6.
-     Encouragement to the children of light to persevere, from a
-     consideration of the excellency of their reward; the end and
-     triumph of the Christian conqueror. The whole concluded with a
-     brief supplication to Almighty God.
-
-THE CONCLUSION.
-
-
-I. Having finished so many testimonies as my time would give
-me leave, in favour of this subject, No Cross, No Crown; no
-temperance, no happiness; no virtue, no reward: no mortification,
-no glorification: I shall conclude with a short description of the
-life and worship of the Christians, within the first century or
-hundred years after Christ: what simplicity, what spirituality,
-what holy love and communion, did in that blessed age abound among
-them! It is delivered originally by Philo Judæus, and cited by
-Eusebius Pamphilius, in his Ecclesiastical history;[78] that those
-Christians renounced their substance, and severed themselves from
-all the cares of this life; and forsaking the cities, they lived
-solitarily in fields and gardens. They accounted their company who
-followed the contrary life of cares and bustles, as unprofitable
-and hurtful unto them, to the end that with earnest and fervent
-desires, they might imitate them which led this prophetical and
-heavenly life--"In many places," says he, "this people liveth, for
-it behoveth as well the Grecians as the Barbarians, to be partakers
-of this absolute goodness; but in Egypt, in every province, they
-abound: and especially about Alexandria. From all parts the
-better sort withdrew themselves into the soil and place of these
-worshippers, as they were called, as a most commodious place,
-adjoining to the lake of Mary, in a valley very fit, both for its
-security and the temperance of the air. They are further reported
-to have had meeting-houses, where the most part of the day was
-employed in worshipping God: that they were great allegorizers of
-the Scriptures, making them all figurative; that the external show
-of words, or the letter, resembleth the superficies of the body; and
-the hidden sense or understanding of the words seem in the place of
-the soul; which they contemplate by their beholding names, as it
-were, in a glass." That is, their religion consisted not chiefly in
-reading the letter, disputing about it, accepting things in literal
-constructions, but in the things declared of the substance itself,
-bringing things nearer to the mind, soul, and spirit, and pressing
-into a more hidden and heavenly sense; making religion to consist
-in the temperance and sanctity of the mind, and not in the formal
-bodily worship, so much now-a-days in repute, fitter to please
-comedians than Christians. Such was the practice of those times: but
-now the case is altered; people will be Christians, and have their
-worldly-mindedness too; but though God's kingdom suffer violence
-by such, yet shall they never enter: the life of Christ and his
-followers hath in all ages been another thing; and there is but one
-way, one guide, one rest; all of which are pure and holy.
-
-  [78] Philo Judæus, of the worship of Egypt and Alexandria. Euseb.
-  Pam. Eccl. Hist. 1. 2. c. 17.
-
-II. But if any, notwithstanding our many sober reasons, and
-numerous testimonies from Scripture, or the example or experience
-of religious, worldly, and profane living and dying men at home and
-abroad, of the greatest note, fame, and learning in the whole world,
-shall yet remain lovers and imitators of the folly and the vanity
-condemned: if the cries and groans, sighs and tears, and complaints,
-and mournful wishes of so many reputed great, nay, some sober men;
-"O that I had more time! O that I might live a year longer, I would
-live a stricter life! O that I were a poor Jean Urick! All is vanity
-in this world! O my poor soul! whither wilt thou go? O that I had
-the time spent in vain recreations! A serious life is above all:"
-and such like. If, I say, this by no means can prevail, but if yet
-they shall proceed to folly, and follow the vain world, what greater
-evidence can they give of their heady resolution, to go on impiously
-to despise God, to disobey his precepts, to deny Christ, to scorn,
-not to bear his cross, to forsake the examples of his servants, to
-give the lie to the dying serious sayings and consent of all ages;
-to harden themselves against the checks of conscience, to befool
-and sport away their precious time, and poor immortal souls to woe
-and misery? (Exod. xxxii. 6; Amos, vi. 3-6; Ephes. iv. 17, 24.) In
-short, it is plain to discover, you have neither reason to justify
-yourselves, nor yet enough of modesty to blush at your own folly;
-but as those that have lost the sense of one and the other, go on
-to eat and drink, and rise up to play. (Matt. xix. 16-22.) In vain,
-therefore, is it for you to pretend to fear the God of heaven, whose
-minds serve the god of the pleasure of this world: in vain is it
-to say, you believe in Christ, who receive not his self-denying
-doctrine: and to no better purpose will all you do avail. If he
-that had loved God and his neighbour, and kept the commandments
-from his youth, was excluded from being a disciple, because he sold
-not all, and followed Jesus; with what confidence can you call
-yourselves Christians, who have neither kept the commandments, nor
-yet forsaken anything to be so? And if it was a bar betwixt him and
-the eternal life he sought, that, notwithstanding all his other
-virtues, love to money and his external possessions could not be
-parted with, what shall be your end, who cannot deny yourselves many
-less things, but are daily multiplying your inventions to please
-your fleshly appetites? Certainly, much more impossible is it to
-forsake the greater. Christ tried his love, in bidding him forsake
-all, because he knew, for all his brags, that his mind was rivetted
-therein: not that if he had enjoyed his possessions with Christian
-indifferency, they might not have been continued; but what then is
-their doom, whose hearts are so fixed in the vanities of the world,
-that they will rather make them Christian, than not to be Christians
-in the use of them? But such a Christian this young man might have
-been, who had more to say for himself than the strictest Pharisee
-living dare pretend to; yet he went away sorrowful from Jesus.
-Should I ask you, if Nicodemus did well to come by night, (John,
-iii. 1-5,) and be ashamed of the great Messiah of the world? and if
-he was not ignorant when Christ spake to him of the new birth? I
-know you will answer me, he did very ill, and was very ignorant; but
-stay a while; the beam is in your own eyes: you are ready doubtless
-to condemn him, and the young man, for not doing what you not only
-refuse to do yourselves, but laugh at others for doing. Nay, had
-such passages not been writ, and were it not for the reverence
-some pretend for the Scriptures, they would both be as stupid as
-Nicodemus in their answers to such heavenly matters, and ready to
-call it canting to speak so, as it is frequent for you, when we
-speak to the same effect, though not the same words: just as the
-Jews, at what time they called God their Father, they despised his
-Son; and when He spake of sublime and heavenly mysteries, some
-cried, He has a devil; others, He is mad; and most of them, These
-are hard sayings, who can hear them?
-
-III. And to you all that sport yourselves after the manners of the
-world, let me say, that you are of those who profess you know God,
-but in works deny Him; living in those pleasures which slay the
-just in yourselves. (Tit. i. 16.) For though you talk of believing,
-it is no more than taking it for granted that there is a God, a
-Christ, Scriptures, &c. without further concerning yourselves to
-prove the verity thereof to yourselves or others, by a strict and
-holy conversation: which slight way of believing is but a light
-and careless way of ridding yourselves of further examination; and
-rather throwing them off with an inconsiderate granting of them to
-be so, than giving yourselves the trouble of making better inquiry,
-leaving that to your priests, ofttimes more ignorant, and not less
-vain and idle than yourselves, which is so far from a gospel faith,
-that it is the least respect you can show to God, Scriptures, &c.
-and next to which kind of believing, is nothing, under a denial of
-all.
-
-But if you have hitherto laid aside all temperance, reason, and
-shame, at least be entreated to resume them now on a matter of
-this importance, and whereon no less concernment rests, than
-your temporal and eternal happiness. Oh, retire, retire; observe
-the reproofs of instruction in your own minds: that which begets
-sadness in the midst of mirth, which cannot solace itself, nor be
-contented below immortality, which calls often to an account at
-nights, mornings, and other seasons: which lets you see the vanity,
-the folly, the end and misery of these things; this is the just
-principle and holy Spirit of the Almighty within you: hear Him, obey
-Him: converse with them who are led by Him, and let the glories of
-another world be eyed, and the heavenly recompense of reward kept in
-sight. Admit not the thoughts of former follies to revive; but be
-steady, and continually exercised by his grace, to deny ungodliness
-and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in
-this present world: (Tit. ii. 12:) for this is the true and heavenly
-nature of Christianity, to be so awakened and guided by the Spirit
-and grace of God, as to leave the sins and vanities of the world,
-and to have the affections regenerated, the mind reformed, and the
-whole man so baptised into purity and faithfulness towards God and
-man; as to act with reverence, justice, and mercy: to care for very
-few things; to be content with what you have: to use all as if you
-used them not; and to be so disentangled from the lusts, pleasures,
-profits, and honours of the world, as to have the mind raised to
-things above, the heart and affections fixed there: that in all
-things you may glorify God, and be as lights set on a hill, whose
-shining examples may be conducing to the happiness of others, who,
-beholding such good works, may be converted, and glorify God the
-Father of lights, in whom you all would be eternally blessed.
-
-IV. But if the impenitence of any is so great, their pursuit of
-folly so earnest, and notwithstanding what has been thus seriously
-offered to reclaim them, they are resolved to take their course, and
-not to be at leisure for more divine things, I have this further
-to leave with them from the Almighty, who first called me to this
-work: that tribulation, anguish, and sorrow, (Rom. ii. 4, 5, 6,
-9,) shall make their dying beds; indignation and wrath shall wind
-up their days, and trouble and vexation of mind and spirit shall
-be the miserable fruits which they shall reap, as the reward of
-all their wretched folly and rebellion! Be not deceived, God will
-not be mocked: (Gal. vi. 4-8,) it is so irreversibly decreed,
-Whatever is sown here, shall be reaped hereafter. And just is the
-Almighty, to make good his determinations upon such, who, instead of
-employing the time given them to work out their salvation with fear
-and trembling, have spent it in the pleasures of the flesh, which
-perish; as if their heaven were here. Nor can it seem unreasonable,
-since He hath thus long waited with remission of sins, and eternal
-life in his hand, to distribute to them that repent: that if
-such will not, to recompense so great obstinacy and love of this
-perishing world, with everlasting tribulation. (Rev. iii. 20, xxi.
-27, xxii. 13-15.)
-
-V. But I am otherwise persuaded of many: yes, I am assured the
-mercies of the everlasting God have been so extended to many, that
-this will prove an effectual call to bring them out of the ways
-and customs of this corrupted and corrupting world; and a means of
-establishing such, who hitherto have been unfaithful to what they
-have been already convinced of. And you, my friends, whose minds
-have received the alarm, whose hearts have truly heard the voice of
-one crying in the wilderness, where you have been straying from the
-Lord, Repent! repent! To you, in the name of the great and living
-God, I speak, I cry, Come away, come away: ah! what do you do there?
-Why are you yet behind? That is not your rest; it is polluted with
-the sins and vanities of a perishing world: gird up your loins: eye
-your light, one in all, Christ Jesus, the same yesterday, to-day,
-and for ever: who hath enlightened every one: (John, i. 9:) follow
-Him, He will lead you to the city of God, that has foundations, into
-which the wicked cannot enter.
-
-VI. Mind not the difficulties of your march; great and good things
-were never enterprised and accomplished without difficulty, which
-does but render their enjoyment more pleasant and glorious in the
-end. Let the holy men and women of old be your examples: remember
-good old Abraham, (Gen. xii. 1, 2,) the excellency of whose faith
-is set out by his obedience to the voice of God, in forsaking his
-father's house, kindred, country, &c. And Moses, that might in
-probability have been made a king, by faith in God leaves Egypt's
-glory and Pharaoh's favours, and chooses rather a sojourn and
-pilgrimage with the despised, afflicted, tormented Israelites in the
-wilderness, than to enjoy the pleasures of that great court for a
-season; esteeming Christ's reproaches greater riches than Egypt's
-treasures. (Heb. xi. 24-27; Isaiah, liv. 3.) But above all, how
-great was the reproach, how many the sufferings, how bitter the
-mockings, which Jesus suffered at the hands of his enemies! Yet
-with what patience, meekness, forgiveness, and constancy, did He
-in all his actions, demean himself towards his bloody persecutors,
-despising the shame, enduring the cross, for the joy that was set
-before him! (Heb. xii. 12.) And hath left us this glorious example,
-that we should follow his steps; (1 Peter, ii. 22, 23;) which hath
-in almost every age been imitated by some. The apostles sealed their
-testimonies with their blood, and multitudes after the example of
-their constancy, esteeming it the greatest honour, as it was always
-attended with the signal demonstration of the Divine presence. How
-memorable was that of Origen: "If my father were weeping upon his
-knees before me, and my mother hanging about my neck behind me, and
-all my brethren, sisters, and kinsfolk lamenting on every side, to
-retain me in the life and practice of the world, I would fling my
-mother to the ground, run over my father, despise all my kindred,
-and tread them under my feet, that I might run to Christ." Yet it
-is not unknown, how dutiful and tender he was in those relations.
-Not much unlike to this was that noble and known instance of latter
-times, in Galeacius Carraciolus, marquis of Vico, who abandoned his
-friends, estate, and country, resolutely saying with Moses, that
-he would rather suffer afflictions with the first reformers and
-Protestants, than enjoy his former plenty, favours, and pleasures,
-with his old religion. (2 Tim. iii. 12; 1 Peter, iv. 1-5.) Nor is
-it possible for any now to quit the world, and live a serious,
-godly life in Christ, without the like suffering and persecution.
-There are among us also some who have suffered the displeasure of
-their most dear and intimate relations and friends; and all those
-troubles, disgraces, and reproaches, which are accustomed to attend
-such as decline the honours, pleasures, ambition, and preferments
-of the world, and that choose to live a humble, serious, and
-self-denying life before the Lord: but they are very unequal to the
-joy and recompense that follow. For though there be no affliction
-that is not grievous for the present, yet, what says the man of God?
-it works a far more exceeding weight of glory in the end. This has
-been both the faith and experience of those, that in all ages have
-trusted in God, who have not fainted by the way; but enduring, have
-obtained an eternal diadem.
-
-Wherefore, since we are compassed about with so great a cloud of
-witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and burden, and the sin
-and vanities that do so easily beset us, and with a constant holy
-patience run our race, having our eye fixed upon Jesus, the Author
-and Finisher of our faith, not minding what is behind; (Heb. xii.
-1; Rom. v. 1-4;) so shall we be delivered from every snare. No
-temptations shall gain us, no frowns shall scare us from Christ's
-cross, and our blessed self-denial. (Phil. iii. 13; Rom. ii. 7.)
-And honour, glory, immortality, and a crown of eternal life shall
-recompense all our sufferings in the end.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-O Lord God! thou lovest holiness, and purity is thy delight in
-the earth; wherefore I pray thee, make an end of sin, and finish
-transgression, and bring in thy everlasting righteousness to the
-souls of men, that thy poor creation may be delivered from the
-bondage it groans under, and the earth enjoy her sabbath again: that
-thy great Name may be lifted up in all nations, and thy salvation
-renowned to the ends of the world. For thine is the kingdom, the
-power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
-
-
-
-
-INDEX.
-
-     THE NAMES OF THOSE PERSONS THAT ARE CITED IN FAVOUR OF THE
-     VIRTUE AND TEMPERANCE MAINTAINED IN THE FOREGOING DISCOURSE.
-
-
-  I. HEATHEN KINGS, EMPERORS, AND RULERS, AMONG THE
-  GREEKS AND ROMANS.
-
-              Page.
-
-  Adrian, 250
-
-  Agasicles, 240
-
-  Agesilaus, ibid.
-
-  Agathocles, 234
-
-  Agis, 241
-
-  Alcamenes, ibid.
-
-  Alexander Severus, 256
-
-  Alexandrides, 242
-
-  Anaxilas, ibid.
-
-  Antigonus, 235
-
-  Archidamus, 242
-
-  Aristides, 236
-
-  Ariston, 242
-
-  Artaxerxes Mnemon, 234
-
-  Augustus, 249
-
-  Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, 251
-
-  Cato, 248
-
-  Cleomenes, 243
-
-  Clitomachus, 238
-
-  Cyrus, 233
-
-  Demosthenes, 239
-
-  Dersyllidas, 243
-
-  Dioclesian, 257
-
-  Epaminondas, 238
-
-  Hippodamus, 243
-
-  Leonidas, ibid.
-
-  Lysander, 244
-
-  Lacedæmonian Customs, 245
-
-  Lycurgus, 247
-
-  Pausanias, 244
-
-  Pericles, 237
-
-  Philip of Macedon, 234
-
-  Phocion, 237
-
-  Ptolemy, 235
-
-  Themistocles, 236
-
-  Theodosius, 257
-
-  Theopompus, 244
-
-  Trajan, 250
-
-  Vespasian, ibid.
-
-  Xenophanes, 235
-
-
-  II.--HEATHEN PHILOSOPHERS.
-
-
-  Anacharsis, 267
-
-  Anaxagoras, ibid.
-
-  Antisthenes, 275
-
-  Aristotle, 281
-
-  Bias, 264
-
-  Bambycatii, 266
-
-  Bion, 278
-
-  Chilon, 263
-
-  Cleobulus, 265
-
-  Crates, 281
-
-  Democritus, 270
-
-  Demonax, 278
-
-  Diogenes, 279
-
-  Epictetus, 288
-
-  Gymnosophistæ, 343
-
-  Gynæcosmi & Gynæconomi, 266
-
-  Heraclitus, 268
-
-  Hippias, 266
-
-  Mandanis, 282
-
-  Periander, 264
-
-  Pertinax, 256
-
-  Pescennius, ibid.
-
-  Pittacus, 265
-
-  Plato, 274
-
-  Pythagoras, 258
-
-  Scipio Africanus, 249
-
-  Seneca, 285
-
-  Socrates, 271
-
-  Solon, 259
-
-  Thales, 258
-
-  Xenocrates, 277
-
-  Zeno, 282
-
-
-  III.--VIRTUOUS HEATHEN WOMEN.
-
-  Cornelia, 292
-
-  Hipparchia, 291
-
-  Penelope, 290
-
-  Plotina, 292
-
-  Pompei Plautina, ibid.
-
-
-  IV.--CHRISTIAN TESTIMONIES OF
-
-  Acacius Bishop of Amida, 322
-
-  Ambrose, 307
-
-  Augustine, 308
-
-  Cardan, ibid.
-
-  Clement Romanus, 305
-
-  Council of Carthage, 308
-
-  Gratian, 309
-
-  Gregory, 306
-
-  Jerome, 119
-
-  Luther, 128
-
-  Machiavel, 306
-
-  Malorat, 118
-
-  Ouzelius, 305
-
-  Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, 322
-
-  Tertullian Chrysostom, 306
-
-  Theoph. Greg. Nazianzene, 396
-
-  William Tindall, 163
-
-  Bartholomew Tertian, 316
-
-  Waldenses, 309, 318
-
-  ---- of Taverns, 312
-
-  ---- Dancing, ibid.
-
-  Bacon, Lord Chancellor, 334
-
-  Charles V., 328
-
-  Chrysostom, ibid.
-
-  Dr. Donne, 338
-
-  Princess Eliz. of the Rhine, 344
-
-  Hugo Grotius, 339
-
-  Count Gondamor, 336
-
-  Henry Prince of Wales, 335
-
-  One of the family of Howard, 344
-
-  Sir Christopher Hatton, 333
-
-  Ignatius, 327
-
-  Justin Martyr, ibid.
-
-  Francis Junius, 340
-
-  James, Earl of Marlborough, 341
-
-  Anthony Lowther, 350
-
-  Sir John Mason, 330
-
-  Cardinal Mazarine, 337
-
-  The Great Duke de Montmorency, 334
-
-  Count Oxenstiern, 337
-
-  Philip III. King of Spain, 336
-
-  A Sister of the family of Penn, 347
-
-  Sir William Penn, 348
-
-  Sir Walter Raleigh, 330
-
-  Cardinal Richelieu, 336
-
-  Du Renti, 351
-
-  Earl of Rochester, 343
-
-  A. Rivetus, 340
-
-  Solomon, 325
-
-  Sir Philip Sidney, 329
-
-  Selden, 338
-
-  Salmasius, 339
-
-  Sir Henry Vane, 342
-
-  Secretary Walsingham, 329
-
-  Sir Henry Wotton, 333
-
-  Cardinal Wolsey, 328
-
-  Bulstrode Whitlock, 346
-
-
-THE END.
-
-
-Joseph Rickerby, Printer, Sherbourn Lane.
-
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Transcriber's note:
-
-Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
-Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as
-printed.
-
-Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where
-the missing quote should be placed.
-
-The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the
-transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
-
-
-
-
-
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